Flights of Fate
by prettypinkey2
Summary: An AU Thaluke fanfic in which Luke is a flight attendant and Thalia is a lighting/set designer for theatre productions in Manhattan. This is the story of how they meet and how that changes their fates. Rated T for mild romance. Cover image is property of anxiouspineapples@dA/tumblr.
1. Chapter 1 - Boarding

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: As a treat for some of you, there are a few cameos in here ;) Don't worry, they're pretty obvious.**

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 _"...Now boarding flight seventeen. Attention passengers; flight seventeen is now boarding."_

She looked up as several people began to shuffle slowly to the left, where the Olympic Airway plane was finally being prepared for a six hour flight to Manhattan. She stood and stretched, gathering her carry-on luggage before she would follow the large group of passengers in front of her.

Thalia Grace had been waiting at the airport for nearly two hours already, the flight having been delayed for potential bad weather. She hated flying as it was, and cursed whoever it was that may have been responsible for the ominous clouds to the north. Although, perhaps the delay wasn't _that_ bad, considering she had been half an hour late anyway. And she couldn't even blame the overnight snow since the plow had already cleaned it up early that morning, which was apparently unusual for the small town she had stayed in, according to the locals at the coffee shop she had dashed into several hours ago.

Readjusting her studded belt, Thalia ran her black-polish-painted nails through her short, spiky hair, which was adorned with streaks of electric blue. Yeah, she was easy to spot in a crowd, but Thalia didn't mind. That was just her style. She tied her scarf around the handle of her carry-on bag, hefted her parka into her free arm, and followed a family of three to the hangar where their flight awaited. She smiled patiently at the group before her as a little girl with blonde hair skipped with glee, clutching the hands of her blonde haired mother and black haired father. Despite their young appearance, Thalia thought she could see streaks of grey threaded naturally into the couples' locks. They were also dressed in a tropical manner, at least the father was, that suggested they were on their way back home from a vacation to the beach.

 _"Last call for passengers boarding flight seventeen to Manhattan."_ A man's voice sounded the warning this time, and Thalia found the sound quite pleasing to the ear.

Once boarded, Thalia made quick work of storing her luggage, making sure that she had removed her iPod, headphones, and a book first. Shoving the overhead luggage compartment shut with a grunt, she muttered to herself, _"I hate flying"_.

"Is this your first flight?" a man's voice asked as he waited for other passengers to move toward the rear of the plane so that he could reach his seat. The airplane wasn't completely crowded with passengers yet, so he had heard her grievances.

"No, sir. It's not. I've just never been a fan," Thalia replied with a polite smile. When she turned, she realized it was the father in the tropical outfit, the one with the tinge of grey hair. His wife and daughter were behind him.

"Ah. I see. Well try to enjoy your flight then," the man told her.

"I will, Mr. ..." Thalia's eyebrows scrunched in question.

"Jackson-Chase." With that, the man smiled at her one more time before he turned and walked up a few aisles to his seat.

Thalia sat down in her seat and immediately closed the window that was on her left. There would be nothing to see anyway except for grey clouds and white snow flurries the closer they got to Manhattan. Thalia pulled her jacket-leather exterior with a soft fabric interior-tighter around her, settled into her seat with headphones in, cranked up a song from her playlist labelled "metal", and started to people watch. She noticed the Jackson-Chase family from earlier scoot by to their seats several rows behind her. While she was tolerant of children, she still said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that the little blonde girl behaved herself.

After about fifteen minutes, a young, professional looking man was standing before her row, hesitantly placing his luggage above his seat. Thalia hardly spared him a glance before she returned to her people watching. From that glance, though, she could see the judgement in his eyes as he looked back at her, and the way he disdainfully acknowledged her ripped jeans and overall "punk" look.

Although she wasn't a teenager anymore, Thalia hadn't really grown out of the habit of her current attire. Since she was a young girl, she had just felt comfortable in black clothes (leather jackets and ripped jeans included) and didn't seem to care what other people thought. She still didn't. Of course, she did have an extended wardrobe now that she had a career as a lighting and set director for productions in New York. She had to look professional _sometimes_ , but if she were just running errands for herself, Thalia would indeed be found wearing black. It usually came in handy for avoiding undesired conversations.

The man sat down, but purposefully turned his body away from Thalia, as if afraid that she may attempt to initiate a conversation. Thalia rolled her eyes and opened her window to see how close to leaving the airport they would be. Most of the plane was filled by now, so she estimated they would be wrapping things up within fifteen minutes.

A short few moments later, as the songs on her iPod were changing, she heard low male voices and took another glance at the man sitting in the aisle seat of her row. She figured that he was speaking to the man who had reserved the middle seat, and was surprised when a man dressed in a flight attendant outfit was speaking with the young man instead. She turned down her music so she could hear them.

"...be more comfortable there?" It was the same voice she had heard earlier, Thalia was sure of it. Now she was able to put a face to the words. Ruffled, short blonde hair and blue eyes. Chiseled face with charming lips and a charming smile. She guessed he was at least five foot ten, but because he was crouching, it was entirely possible he was closer to six feet tall, maybe taller. Beneath the uniform was the hint of a lanky, slightly muscled body. Her eyes landed on the golden nameplate on his chest. _Luke_.

"Oh, I would hate to inconvenience you," the young man said. _Yeah right_ , Thalia thought. _Not your kind. You're all for inconveniencing people_.

"Not at all. It's my pleasure, and of course, my job, to make sure all passengers are as comfortable as possible," the man named Luke replied with a polite smile. It was obvious to Thalia that he knew the man two seats from her was, to put it nicely, _put off_ by her apparently colorful character. He stepped aside when the man obliged. He helped him settle in on the other side of the plane before he returned to Thalia's row and, to her surprise, took a seat and offered her his hand when he noticed that she had been watching.

"I'm Luke Castellan," he said with a polite smile. He almost seemed too polite. The other flight attendants Thalia had dealt with all seemed to dislike their jobs. Not this one.

"Thalia Grace," she replied, yanking her headphones out of her ears with haste to avoid seeming rude.

"Well, Thalia, how's the crew been treating you so far? You know, I'm obligated to punch someone if you haven't had the best service," Luke said, chuckling softly at his own joke. Goodness, there was just no end to the brightness behind his eyes.

Thalia smiled at the jest. "Aside from the delay, everything has been fine," she replied. When he stated where he was, even settling in more comfortably into the seat, Thalia asked him, "I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you supposed to be helping other passengers?"

Luke shook his head, and he leaned in when he spoke, lowering his voice and giving her a slight grin. In an ominous tone, he said, "I'm not the scheduled flight attendant for this plane." Thalia's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and, although she would swear against it, even panic.

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 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N: Hopefully you got those cameos, but if not, (shame!) they were Percy and Annabeth and their daughter. I picked Jackson-Chase for the last name because, come on, we all know Annabeth wouldn't have agreed to simply having her last name changed to Jackson.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Until Next Time

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews-you know who you are ;) I'm taking it all into consideration.**

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Thalia's mind started reminding her of every bad movie where things went wrong on airplanes and unaccounted for passengers, disguised to be misleading, were the cause. Which was of course the opposite of what she wanted her mind to be telling her.

"Not technically, at least," Luke said, losing the grin and raising the volume of his speech to a normal conversational tone. Thalia ogled him, and then relaxed slightly. She reprimanded herself for making her alarm so obvious. There was no way he could be a "bad guy", security was so much tighter these days. ...Right? She could see that behind his blue eyes was a hint of discomfort at spooking her. Recovering quickly, he continued, "I'm using this flight to get to New York to work from there a few days before driving down to Connecticut to visit my mother."

There was a slight pause in their conversation as an announcement interrupted them to announce that the flight would be leaving the airport shortly and that people should put on their seat belts. Thalia did so and fell silent before she jolted to action, realizing she should respond to Luke to be courteous, and reassure him that she wasn't as alarmed as she probably looked. At least, that's what she told herself. "Oh. Oh, that's nice," she said. "I'm visiting my father in Manhattan, and I'm returning to work."

"Where's work for you?" Luke asked her. It seemed now as if the awkwardness of their earlier conversation had passed.

"I do lighting and set design all over Manhattan," Thalia told him with a soft smile. "Not Broadway," Thalia said quickly when his eyebrows raised as he was about to ask the question. "Yet." She smiled again.

Luke chuckled softly. "How'd you decide to do that?"

"I'm just really good with electric stuff," Thalia said with a shrug. "My father taught me some of it when I was a child, but he and my mom separated when I was very young so I didn't see him often. When I got to high school, he moved and I taught myself the rest." Thalia realized she'd gotten pretty personal with her story and quickly mumbled a sorry. "I'm rambling. You didn't want to know that." She fiddled with her headphones.

"No, that's alright. I was never close to my father, either," Luke told her reassuringly. There was another announcement that interrupted their conversation, and Thalia gripped the armrest of her seat as the plane began to move. She would have closed her eyes except that she had left the window panel open and her eyes gave her no choice but to look out as the runway slipped away from them like a tablecloth from a table in a magic trick. She heard Luke chuckle and barely held in her icy glare. "What?" she asked through grit teeth. She didn't have the greatest tolerance for being the cause of someone's amusement unless it was on purpose.

"Flying is uncomfortable for you. You just didn't seem like one of those people," Luke replied calmly. "Sometimes I forget there are people who aren't akin to flying since I do it so often." He smiled again, easing the tension behind Thalia's accusatory glance. He reached over to her surprise and squeezed her hand lightly, almost affectionately. "However, I do know from experience that these flights are perfectly safe."

"I know. It's just...a natural...thing," Thalia said with a grimace. "I'd rather drive, but my father pays for the flights so I don't want to be rude." When the turbulence was over with, she began to relax, and finally realized that she had been gripping Luke's hand. With an embarrassing not-so-silent gasp, she recoiled from his hand as if it burned her and closed the window blind. Without looking, Thalia could feel his unabashed smile. She fumbled for her headphones.

There was silence between them now, which Thalia could have used earlier to avoid being _so damn embarrassing_ , as she had thought in reflection.

"What do you like listening to?" Luke asked curiously and amiably, leaning closer. Thalia was taken aback when she thought to herself unconsciously that his childlike expression was quite cute. _In a childish way_ , she corrected herself stubbornly. And he was nice to her. _Too nice. Nicer than most strangers, albeit._ But if she really admitted it, which she never would, she almost didn't mind having someone to talk to. Her plane rides were usually dull.

"Uh...all kinds of things." Thalia turned on her iPod to check the song that was about to play. "'Bleeding Out' by Imagine Dragons," she said. At some point earlier she had changed from her "metal" playlist to her "alternative" playlist.

"May I?" Luke asked. "I'm not picky with music," he added when she hesitated, "I won't judge your style." There was that (stupid) smile again.

Thalia nodded her consent and Luke got up from his seat and moved one over, and Thalia handed over the left earbud. She pressed play and sat back in her seat, relaxing slowly the farther the plane reached away from the runway.

At some point, roughly an hour into the flight, Thalia's eyes closed in fatigue. She had been up late the night before resolving a work issue and had needed to awake early for her flight. Needless to say, she hadn't gotten much sleep and was feeling the effects now. When she first fell asleep, she had been leaning back on her own seat. However that soon changed as the time passed and she slept on. Her body began to lean unconsciously to her right and her head was soon resting on Luke's shoulder. Like a gentleman, Luke did nothing. He only smiled from the corners of his lips and continued to people watch and periodically look out of other windows at the occasional snow flurry and clouds.

Thalia stirred a few hours later and when it dawned on her where she was, and particularly who she was sleeping on, she muttered a quick apology and sat up, eliciting what she thought was a laugh quickly hidden by a cough from the man beside her. Thalia noticed that her music had stopped playing at some point. Flustered, she turned on her iPod and found her "country" playlist and put it on shuffle. Rascal Flatts' 'My Wish' was the first song to play. She didn't realize that Luke was still listening until he started to hum along with the lyrics and his fingers tapped along to the beat against his knee. Thalia let a smile slip past her dark-lipstick-clad lips as she opened the window.

-x-

The rest of the flight passed quickly. Thalia fell asleep a few more times, but thankfully she didn't wake up on Luke's shoulder again. She did, in objection with her dignity, grip his hand in hers when the plane touched down on the runway. They departed the plane together but Luke stopped at the entryway to the airport. "Until next time, Thalia Grace," he said with a handsome smile, stopping near an employee office, likely where he would check in for his next flight.

Thalia smiled lightly and nodded. "Until next time," she said.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Oh, Brother

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N 1: This is a work of fiction, so please ignore my cheesy assumption about Zeus' mundane occupation xD**

 **A/N 2: Huge shout out to all of my reviewers and those who have followed/fav'ed this story and/or myself so far! Keep those reviews and compliments comin'! :D**

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Thalia rummaged through her bags for the key to her father's apartment. Finding it at the bottom of her purse, she let herself inside and called out for her father. Eliciting no response, she wound her way through the small apartment to the spare bedroom, her bedroom. She cast her luggage onto the bed and immediately went to turn on the coffee pot in the kitchen, followed by the TV. All the while, her father never emerged, so she assumed that he was at work.

Zeus de Chiel was a popular lawyer in New York, primarily dealing with personal injuries. He would tell anyone that he was particularly interested in cases involving natural disasters, although nobody knew why. They just understood he was the best. He was often "out in the field" to better comprehend how to improve things, and his dedication to research was perhaps the reason why he was so good at what he did. Thalia had also assumed that this was why he had divorced her mother, although nobody ever talked about it. At least he had still stayed around to care for her and had been more than happy to give Thalia's mother, Beryl, financial support while she raised their daughter.

Thalia poured herself some coffee in the mug she and her father had bought together once in Staten Island. It was a black mug with white block letters that read _'Don't speak unless this cup is empty of all contents'_. It was Thalia's favorite mug when she came to visit. She sat down in front of the TV. Her mind wandered back to her trip from that morning, and she had no idea how, but her brain reminded her of the flight attendant, Luke. Looking for a distraction, she reached for the remote and found a sticky note beneath it. It read:

 _Hey hon. Hope flight was okay. Had some work to do today. Got a reservation for dinner at 8. See you then. -Dad_

Thalia smiled. She plugged the address into her phone for later, and checked the time. It was three in the afternoon. She had some time to unpack, and maybe hit the apartment pool. Unlike most apartment complexes, the pool here was indoor, and it was heated in the winter. Just the thought of relaxing in a warm pool in the middle of winter made Thalia eager to settle in.

-x-

"Good evening, darling. How was your flight?" Zeus asked with a smile, speaking up after Thalia was escorted to their table. She was dressed in a dark blue, loose, long sleeved shirt with black leggings, and had a black leather jacket draped over her arm.

"Uncomfortable as always, but I got to relax in the pool before changing to meet you here," Thalia said, returning the smile. She picked up her menu. "How was work?"

Their small talk continued throughout their meal, as each of them caught up with what they had been doing over the last few months and vented over their workloads. Toward the end of their meal they were interrupted by the waiter returning to them not with the check, but with two thin flutes of champaign. "From the man behind me," he said with a polite smile, turning to leave again.

Eyebrows close in confusion, Thalia looked around for a familiar face. She knew several of her father's coworkers well, and yet nobody looked familiar. Except...there. It was the same ruffled blonde hair. Blue eyes looked back into hers and the flight attendant, now out of uniform, lifted his fingers in a deft, hardly perceptible wave of acknowledgement. Thalia turned away so that the color in her cheeks might be hidden.

"Well? Any luck?" her father asked. He had already taken ownership of one of the flutes and had drained half of its contents. Thalia took a sip first before she answered him.

"Actually, someone I met on my flight. He's a flight attendant working with Olympic Airlines," Thalia explained to her father softly. She raised her glass to her lips again, but it was too late. Her father, as usual, had seen right through her, and was grinning around the edge of his glass with an eyebrow raised.

"To flights," he said, raising his glass above the table, and to the center. Thalia laughed softly and did the same. "Whatever, Dad," she said with a smile, taking another sip.

"Aren't you going to go talk to him?" Zeus implored, obviously enjoying her reaction.

"Why would I do that?"

"Well he did buy you champaign. I don't think flight attendants do that to every passenger they come across off of the landing strip."

"That doesn't mean anything," Thalia denied. "He was just being kind. He sat next to me, for goodness sake."

Zeus laughed, a deep rumbling, delighted laugh. Thalia smiled, having missed the sound. While she loved her mother, she always figured she would have enjoyed growing up under her father's care. A few years after Zeus had left, her mother had succumbed to alcoholism. While she did her best to overcome it and give Thalia a good future, and to this day still supported her as best as she could, the former actress had never gotten over the divorce. She had loved Zeus deeply, but fate had other plans for them. Beryl was unable to go back into the acting world after Thalia was born, for it was simply too much to handle being a single mom and no longer wielding a model-like body to secure an acting role.

By the end of the evening, they had discussed pretty much everything there was to discuss. They took her father's Volkswagen back to the apartment, where Thalia's fatigue quickly caught up with her. In the last few moments before she fell asleep, her mind wandered back to Luke and the strange happenstance that they had crossed paths once again.

-x-

Thalia was awoken early the next morning by a repetitive chiming that she soon recognized as her cell phone ringing. She grumbled as she lifted the device from her nightstand, sat up in the bed, and pressed the answer button without even looking at her Caller ID. "Hello?"

"Is that any way to greet your little brother?" the masculine voice on the other end of the line chirped. Thalia snorted a laugh.

"Morning, Jason. It is when you wake me up. You knew I was flying in yesterday."

"Well seeing as you didn't bother to let me know you'd landed safely, I'd say you deserved the wake up call. Literally."

"Ha-ha," Thalia said, her tone laced with sarcasm. "I am sorry about that. You know me. Always forgetful and busy. Somehow I still have a job."

Jason laughed. It was a light, happy sound. He was always happy. It was annoying. "Yeah we all know how you are. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to meet me and Pipes for brunch. There's an awesome cafe that just opened right off Times Square. It opened just after you went on vacation."

"I'd love to. How does one sound? I've got some work to catch up on in the studios-there's an intern coming in this week-but I should be done by one," Thalia said, stretching in bed. Now that she was awake, there was no going back to sleep. Time for coffee.

"Sounds great. See you there, sis!" Jason chirped. The connection clicked off and Thalia put her phone down as she padded into the kitchen to start the coffee while she got dressed.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not. I'm thinking about uploading weekly, but when classes start that might be bumped back to bi-weekly or (hopefully not, as a last resort) monthly. I'm aiming for ten chapters...**

 **A/N 3: The surname I picked for Zeus, "de Chiel" is of French origin literally meaning "of Heaven" or "of the sky". Fitting, don't you think? And, as Thalia expressed earlier, her father wasn't around much-they divorced soon after she was born, to more closely align this to the books-so she kept her mother's last name, Grace. And surprise! Jason and Piper requested (read: held a dagger to my throat) to have an appearance in the story, so I kindly obliged. After all, they're siblings! I wasn't sure if I would add them in, but I was also influenced by a review or two ;)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Will Work for Coffee

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N 1: I like the idea of some sibling bonding, so why not? Ergo: this chapter is (mostly made up) Thalia and Jason sibling fluff**

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"Cafe Arabèl, please," Thalia instructed her cab driver as she slid into the back seat. Compared to most New York cabs, this one was actually clean and didn't smell that bad. It must have been newer.

She gazed out the window as the cabbie navigated the traffic and slushy roads with skill, and watched people with multiple bags slung around their arms or gripped tightly in their palms walking quickly up and down strips of high-end shops and boutiques. She didn't understand how so many people could be dedicated to shopping in cold weather like this.

A short drive later the cab parked along the snow-crusted curb a few buildings down from the new cafe. Thalia paid the driver and stepped out, sending a text to Jason as she did. Her black combat boots crunched the dirty snow on the sidewalk, and she pulled her jacket more closely around her body. She examined the crowd in front of the building, searching for a familiar blonde and a girl with brown hair beside him. The closer she got to the door, the more she realized just how much of a hot spot this cafe was becoming. Like, this place really rivaled Starbucks. Now, _that_ was shocking.

"Thals!" She turned when a familiar voice piped up above the murmur of the crowd once she had gotten inside. She looked around and saw Jason waving his arm to get her attention. He and his girlfriend, Piper, were already seated in the rear, across from a window. She wove through the line until she reached them.

"Hey, guys. How are you, Piper? Do I need to teach my brother a lesson?" Thalia asked with a smile, ruffling Jason's hair as she walked around him to her seat across from both of them.

Piper laughed, and it was a musical sound. She was such a charming girl, and Thalia couldn't have hoped for better for her little brother. "He's been a good boy." She also ruffled Jason's hair with a soft smirk.

Jason grumbled and fixed his hair by messily running his hand through it, then promptly adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Well well, those are new. Getting old already?" Thalia teased him when she finally realized why he looked different-aside from being older. It had been at least a year since the last time they'd gotten together in person. Jason had been born shortly before their father had officially divorced their mother. He grew up without a father figure in his life, aside from fleeting relationships that their mother could hardly manage while also caring for two children and working odd jobs once her acting career plummeted. He had never had much appreciation for the man, and never quite understood how Thalia could be close to him after so many years of his lack of parenting and appearance.

Jason stuck out his tongue with a short "ha-ha". "They're not too new. I got them a few months after we met up last year." He was about to speak again, but a petite barista appeared and asked for their orders, holding a purple pen that matched her notepad and nail polish.

"I'll take an orange blossom herbal tea," Piper said, followed by Jason's request for a coffee with espresso. Thalia gazed over the menu, and decided on a Greek frappé, which she had never had before, nor heard of.

"Oh, and three plates of French toast," Jason added.

The barista smiled and assured them that their drinks would be out quickly before bounding away to the next table.

"So how's life treating you guys?" Thalia asked them, folding her hands in front of her and leaning into the table. Jason and Piper had both graduated from high school earlier in the year and had decided to take a year off to spend time together before Piper enrolled in acting school and Jason left for the military.

"It's been great. We went on a vacation to Peru a few weeks ago. The people were so friendly. And the food was amazing." Piper continued to give Thalia details of the trip, and Thalia couldn't help but laugh at her eagerness.

"Oh, and the weather was just gorgeous. You should have-Thalia, are you listening?" Piper had concluded her story now and Thalia stopped her people watching to look at her. She hadn't even realized when she had stopped paying attention.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I'm listening. Beautiful weather," Thalia said. She plastered a small smile to her face as Piper's manicured eyebrows raised in skepticism.

Piper turned her head and scanned the crowd. "Who are you looking for?"

"Nobody. I was just people watching. You know me. I do that." Thalia shrugged. In truth, she really wasn't sure what had caused her sudden shift of attention. She was saved from any more scrutiny by the arrival of their drinks and French toast. Thalia cut a piece from the toast and put it in her mouth, immediately savoring the taste. She shared a smile with Jason, and she knew he remembered as well. French toast was their favorite meal, the one their mother always prepared on their birthdays, regardless of whatever else was going on in their lives. He must have told Piper this as well, because she reached over and squeezed the hand of her boyfriend affectionately.

Thalia's phone buzzed and she checked the screen to find a text from her friend and coworker, Zoë. Zoë was a set designer as well, and she also had a background in Shakespearean literature. She was dedicated to their work, which had proven in several instances to be both good and bad.

"I hate to just grab a bite and run, but my coworker Zoë just got in town and we should start drafting set ideas for the production we just signed on for," Thalia said apologetically, reaching for her purse and removing a twenty dollar bill from her wallet. "Here, it's on me."

Jason, knowing better than to argue, took the bill with gratitude. In turn, Thalia hugged each of them before donning her coat, taking her Greek frappé, and exiting the cafe.

Thalia hailed a cab and arrived at the studio about a half hour later. Before she set her drink down, Zoë Nightshade appeared at her desk. "I really wish we could have had a few more days off. But work is work. Have you even thought about this yet?" she asked, holding up a thick script.

Thalia shook her head with a frown. "Nope. We'll have to haul butt to pull this one off. I can feel it," she said.

Zoë scowled, and her arms crossed over the light grey cardigan she wore. "Thals, I can't do this alone, you know." _Uh oh, here she goes._ While Zoë was a great friend, she was sometimes a little too loyal to her workload and schedules. Thalia and Zoë often got into arguments when Zoë was feeling pressed for time. They never lasted long, but Thalia tried to follow a strict schedule as a general rule to avoiding such conflicts.

Before Zoë could complain further, Thalia interrupted. "I know. I know. I just needed a few days to unwind, and I didn't have time in Los Angeles. I've got my coffee and my script, now. I'm ready to go." She smiled.

Zoë looked at her with mild disapproval for quite some time. "Fine. I'm about halfway done and I have some ideas here." She tapped her forehead with her pencil. "I'll start drafting things out while you catch up." She turned on her heel and walked off, her silver jewelry clinking together with each bounce of her step.

Thalia looked at the script on her desk. There had to be at least two hundred pages. Thank goodness for double spacing and wide fonts. She sat down with a groan and began to read.

"And if you finish by four, I'll buy you a coffee." Zoë's voice travelled from the hallway, the frustration gone from her tone.

"You're the best!" Thalia called after her.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: Look who else showed up! Man, it's a party, now! *ahem* Anyway, meet Zoë Nightshade, Thalia's coworker and friend. Or I guess we can say frenemy? She's a bit icy!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N 1: Just wanted to give another shoutout to all of my lovely reviewers! I promise we'll get some Thaluke fluff in here soon ;) I just have to storybuild first hehe.**

* * *

"Okay, I read it. What's next?" Thalia asked, stopping by Zoë's office.

"Well I think we should stick to realistic for this one. Kind of get the audience involved, you know?" Zoë said around a mouthful of muffin. She had the script on her lap with several scribbles in a dark blue ink. There were messy sketches on her desk as well, some partially colored and some just in pencil. She pointed to a sketch of a backdrop that was facing in Thalia's direction. "Like this."

The script they were designing for was a paranormal thriller type play with some western themes. There would be lots of rigging required for realistic paranormal effects, but Thalia loved to make the audience feel as though the events around them were truly real.

Zoë had thought similarly and had already drafted some of the rigging designs and setting backdrops.

"They look fabulous. The rigging is an excellent idea for tricks," Thalia said. "I'll start flushing some of these out to prepare for manufacturing and you digitalize those backdrops. Give them a grungy, old west feel. Maybe a western tavern?" She brainstormed aloud as she picked up the rigging sketches and left Zoë's office. She popped in a minute later. "You know, we should have all of this done by early March, and our spring break would be right after that. We should go do some _research_ on paranormal movies and stories in Hollywood," Thalia said with a smirk, applying air quotes to _research._

Zoë chuckled and looked up from the computer she was logging into. "Any excuse for a trip, hmm? I'll talk about it with the boss-man, if that's what you mean." She raised an eyebrow.

"You know me so well. Oh, and you owe me a coffee," Thalia retorted. She raised the script in her hand and left Zoë's office once again. When Thalia returned to her desk she immediately started drafting up more riggings for effects in the play, and also researched the dimensions.

Later that afternoon, as soon as work was over, Thalia and Zoë left the office to get coffees before parting ways to go home. "Maybe we'll meet the Mythbusters or something while we're in California. I bet they'd know how to help with the rigging," Thalia was saying over her latte.

"Myth busters? What kinds of myths do they bust?" Zoë asked with a blank expression. "Like Greek myths, Spanish myths, that kind of thing?"

Thalia laughed. "No, not that kind of myth." She mused on it. "Well, who knows. Maybe some of that stuff _is_ real. But anyway, they mostly test things like movie stunts and theories."

"Oh. Do they have a TV show or something?" Zoë asked curiously.

Thalia raised an eyebrow, her drink paused halfway between her partially opened lips and the table. "Never mind," she said with a smile and shake of her head. They stayed for a few more minutes to chat before Zoë excused herself, suddenly remembering she was expecting company and had to prepare dinner. Thalia went back to her father's apartment.

"I think I'm going to rent that place near the studio," she told her father that evening when he came in from work. "I think it'll be more convenient for me to stay there long term instead of always crashing here when I'm in the city."

"Of course," Zeus said with a friendly, weathered smile. "You know my door is always open to you should you change your mind." Thalia returned the smile. They both knew the main reason for that was to make up for lost time. But she had to admit that using her father's apartment for a free stay couldn't be her permanent solution. She'd started looking for a place of her own in the last year and there was a small apartment a short walk from her work studio that she liked and could afford, and she'd been speaking with the renters for a while now.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still going to see the renters tomorrow to take another look at the apartment, though, to keep my options open." Thalia finished her mug, said goodnight to her father, and padded down the hall to her room for the evening. In the morning she was up early and dressed to impress, although not too much, for examining the apartment one last time. She grabbed a quick breakfast consisting of coffee and a banana and took a cab to the apartment complex. When she arrived, she saw the man she had spoken on the phone with, Malcolm Randall, and a familiar blonde woman she didn't previously know would be attending with him.

"Mrs. Jackson-Chase?" Thalia asked. The woman turned to say hello, but seemed stumped when she realized who had spoken.

"I hate to ask this, but have we met? I'm usually really good with faces," she said with a slight frown.

"Oh, no. Not personally. I met your husband on the _Olympic Airway_ flight a few days ago. Your daughter is just the cutest thing," Thalia said with a smile, offering her hand. "I'm Thalia Grace."

The blonde woman smiled and returned the handshake. "Annabeth Jackson-Chase. I work with Mr. Randall's company, specifically as Chief Architect in his home designing department, but I also work in the real estate department occasionally."

 _Ah, that was why she was here._ "Of course. Well, I'm ready to see that apartment," Thalia said. She followed Annabeth and Malcolm to the second floor and the apartment on the corner facing the street. Once again she was pleased with what she saw, and within two hours they managed to come to an agreement on the payment and move in date. Thalia would be able to call the apartment her home in mid April, a few short months from now. Thalia phoned Zoë after she stopped for lunch and they celebrated together over the line, and Zoë vowed to take her out for an official celebration when they got to California. When Thalia asked, Zoë told her she had spoken to their boss that morning and he had cleared the trip, pleased with their ever present dedication to their sets. Together they made plans for how the trip would go, and Thalia spent the evening booking an Olympic Airway flight for both of them (courtesy of her father) to Los Angeles and a hotel close to Hollywood as well.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: I've gotten requests and reviews about "guest" characters (such as Percabeth and Jasper) and I just want to clarify that this is still a Thaluke fic, but if I see an opportunity for some cameos, then I've decided to just "roll with the punches" hehe (ie. Annabeth and Malcolm help Thalia buy a house because why wouldn't a child of Athena be involved with the housing industry? HELLO architecture opportunities. FYI Malcolm is Athena cabin's 2nd in command for the PJO storyline in case you didn't know).**


	6. Chapter 6 - Hollywood, Here We Come!

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N 1: As promised ;) Enjoy!**

 **A/N 2: Sorry for the delay! I was moving into my dorm this weekend and didn't get around to completing ch6 as early as I had thought. Oh, and now that classes are starting I think updated chapters will have to be bumped back to biweekly or monthly depending on how much work I have :/ As an apology, this chapter is extra long! :D**

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The work weeks between Thalia and Zoë's winter vacation and spring break seemed to blur by them at an increasing speed the closer the Hollywood trip came. They made much progress toward the set, and their digital designs were finished just days before their flight.

Nearly giddy with excitement and yet exhausted from their workload, they arrived at the airport on the first day of vacation. Thalia did her best not to look like a curious, wide-eyed child, but she _was_ interested to see if she might find a familiar face here. Zoë walked in front of Thalia and they got separated by a harried looking family of six just as they began to leave the airport lobby to board.

"Just couldn't stay away from my airplane, hmm?" said a familiar voice in a mock-seducing tone from behind Thalia. She snorted a laugh as she turned around to see a familiar blue-eyed, blonde-haired face.

"Was that as bad out loud as it sounded in my head?" Luke Castellan said with a grin, readjusting a bag on his shoulder. There was a cart beside him topped with unmatched luggage. And he was wearing another uniform that matched the Olympic Airway logo colors. He was wearing dark grey pants and a (non-shiny, thank _goodness_ ) yellow-gold vest with a white shirt beneath it and a sky blue tie and matching decals on the vest. The gold and blue colors enhanced Luke's bright blue eyes and made his hair seem even more vibrantly blonde. Not that Thalia was paying attention to that.

"Yeah, pretty much," Thalia said. "But it caught my attention." She smirked, then she pointed to the bag. "Working this time?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I flew here from Chicago, and looks like we're going to Los Angeles today. Got any plans there?" He turned to add a few more bags to his cart.

"My coworker and I are researching set designs for a play, so we're going to have a look around Hollywood for inspiration," Thalia said. "At least, that's the story we told our boss," she said with a grin.

Luke shared the smile. "I see. Well I should probably get these to the plane or else I'm going to have some unhappy passengers. Have fun in Hollywood, Thalia." He winked before he left, and Thalia watched him with a hidden smirk. When he vanished down another hallway she made her way to the plane, grimacing when Zoë gave her a _look_ as she took her seat closest to the aisle.

"Spill." Zoë's icy gaze was nearly menacing, but there was a girlish playfulness to it. Thalia had never seen her that interested in men, but she still had an instinct for gossip.

"Spill what?" Thalia said innocently, removing headphones from her pocket.

"You're late to your seat and your cheeks are flushed because something happened and you're horrible at keeping things from me," Zoë said, studying Thalia's face with scrutiny. _How was she always so right?_

"It's nothing. I'll tell you later." Thalia shrugged and put the headphones in, trying to relax and forget she was on a plane while listening to some hard rock. When the plane took off and steadied in the air high above New York, a petite blonde flight attendant was beginning to come around to check if anyone wanted drinks or snacks. Thalia noticed that only she and another girl, a brunette, were assigned to this section of the plane. She abandoned the thought during the turbulence, ignoring Zoë's mocking of her fear of heights _(You're a lighting and set designer, for crying out loud! Catwalks are your friend!)_ , and attempted to get some sleep.

After an hour, Zoë got up and made her way to the front of the plane to go to the restroom. The brunette flight attendant passed Zoë with a silver tray topped with two slender glasses in her hand and began to walk down the aisle toward their seats. Suppressing a giggle and looking at Thalia with unnaturally sparkling green eyes, the girl stopped at their row. "For you and your friend, from an _anonymous_ someone," she said in a soft voice. She winked and departed as soon as the silver tray was in Thalia's curious fingers. With her sole focus the glasses before her, Thalia thought she recognized something about them. She lifted one of the glasses and could smell the liquid inside as it neared her face. Champagne. She smiled slightly, taking a slow sip. _Just what I thought._ It was the same brand of champagne that Luke had sent to her and her father when they had met by chance at the restaurant her first night back in Manhattan.

Wedged between the champagne glasses at the bottom of the tray, hardly noticeable, was a slender piece of paper. It was blank on the top, but when Thalia lifted it curiously, the paper revealed an address and time written in pen on the back side. A restaurant in Los Angeles, no doubt, that . When Zoë returned, Thalia handed her the second glass of champagne, but had already hidden away the note and gave Zoë the excuse that she had asked for the glasses herself, needing something to relax her mind. She could tell that her friend was skeptical, but accepted it without a word anyway.

When the flight finally landed in Los Angeles, Thalia and Zoë hurried out to drink it all in. They made it out of the airport in less than an hour and took a shuttle to a car rental company so they would have their own transportation for the trip. Zoë drove, and Thalia used that time to research the address that was on the card. It was a fairly upscale restaurant, and she started planning what she would wear. It was a good thing she had packed a dress, despite not thinking initially that she would wear it.

Zoë pulled into the parking lot of their hotel with a low whistle. "Wow, you did good Thals." There was a man waiting at the entrance of the parking lot for valet. Zoë pulled up to him and handed him the keys before helping Thalia with the luggage. They checked in quickly and used the elevator to reach their second floor room. As soon as they got inside, Thalia immediately unpacked her suitcase.

"Where's the fire?" Zoë said with a laugh, barely closing the door by the time Thalia's suitcase was open. She found the remote and began flipping channels on her bed, her unopened suitcase beside her.

Thalia finished putting away her clothes, all except for a black dress. It was formal enough without being _too_ fancy for the occasion.

"Whoa, hold on. What are you changing for? We literally just got here! And you were about to spill your guts to me on the plane, remember? I deserve an explanation," Zoë said, suddenly catching on that Thalia wasn't telling her something.

Thalia frowned. She gave a dramatic sigh. "Alright, as long as I can borrow the car for a couple hours tonight?" Her voice rose in pitch with a pleading tone toward the end of the question. She smiled innocently at Zoë, and gave her a pout for good measure. When Zoë finally relented with a wave of her hand, Thalia sat down at the edge of her bed and explained her tale. Zoë never interrupted her, but there was mild excitement for her friend on her face when Thalia reached the current events.

"Well well. So you weren't just trying to do some work research on this trip, were you?" Zoë's eyebrow was quirked, bu the inquiry was playful.

Thalia smiled from the corner of her lips. She shrugged. "Not entirely. I _may_ have been hoping to bump into him. But don't worry, we've got a lot to do here as well, just the two of us." Zoë was worryingly silent, but then she broke out into uncharacteristic giggles. "Well you go get yourself a man, honey! He sounds like a keeper." She winked and gave a sweeping motion to the door with her outstretched arm.

Now it was Thalia's turn to give a surprising giggle. She snatched up the dress and was all set in less than a half hour, with some tips from Zoë every now and then on how to look subtly attractive-a subject that Zoë knew quite a lot about for someone with _zero_ dating experience. She had about a half hour to pace the room in a haze of giddiness and nervousness.

"Hey, at least you're wearing a black dress. That way, if you spill anything on it, it won't show up," Zoë was saying, attempting to distract her. Thalia gave a short, distracted, breathy laugh. Zoë frowned with a _hmph_ and held up Thalia's handbag. "Alright, off you go now. Not eagerly early, but not unfashionably late, either. Go get 'em, tiger."

Thalia nodded and left the room, wondering on the elevator ride why she was so nervous. She was _Thalia Grace_. She didn't get nervous at the drop of a hat. _You've got it bad, girl. Keep it together._ She shrugged the bad angel off of her shoulder and tilted her chin up, feigning confidence as she strode out to the lobby and requested that the valet pull the car around. The car ride itself was quick and almost too quiet, and she was glad to hear soft chattering as she stepped across the threshold from the cool weather outside to the warm restaurant inside. Before the waitress at the front entrance caught her attention, Thalia looked for a familiar face. A hand beckoned from just behind the waitress, the person it belonged to in just the right line of sight to catch anybody entering the establishment. _Here we go. No turning back._ She strode past the waitress, who had just realized that she was there and was about to open her mouth to address Thalia, and put on a polite smile as she neared the table.

"I was beginning to wonder if I'd scared you off," Luke said easily, standing from his own seat to greet her, and to help Thalia into her seat.

Thalia laughed, hoping that none of her anxiety had gotten past her lips. "I was just hoping that the note was from you," she replied.

"Oh?"

Thalia could just _feel_ the heat and color rising in her once-pale cheeks. She stammered a response, but gave up when Luke chuckled lightheartedly, taking his seat across from her. She forced herself to relax.

"I hope you don't mind that I've already ordered an appetizer for us," Luke said, his voice smooth. He smiled when Thalia nodded approvingly.

"And let me guess, champagne?" She smirked playfully, calling out his motif. Just as the words left her voice, their waiter appeared with a plate of oysters in one hand and a silver tray in the other bearing an unopened bottle of champagne and two crystal flutes.

"Am I getting predictable already? I'll have to switch it up next time."

"Next time, as in a second date?"

"Well I wasn't going to ask so quickly, but now that you mention it, I would be honored." The waiter straightened after pouring their drinks, giving them dinner menus, and Luke thanked him as he departed.

Thalia laughed, looking up at him. "That's not what I meant."

Luke smirked as he met her eyes, sending a small, not necessarily _un_ wanted, shiver down Thalia's spine, and said, "I know."

Thalia's blush returned and she picked up her menu, clearing her throat. "So, have you been here before? What's good?" She rubbed the back of her ear with a nervous finger. _Stop it. You're twenty six, not sixteen. Act like it!_ Thalia reached out for an oyster and looked back at Luke, who was still smirking, but at the menu now.

"I've been here once or twice through past flights. Their seafood entrees are award winning, although I've yet to have it," was his reply, his smile sobering. He also reached out for an oyster, and his hand brushed hers, and she swore it was intentional, before he placed the oyster shell on his plate.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 3: Finally time for some Thaluke, I thought. What do you guys think? I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up, but hopefully it will be soon! Thank you again to all of my followers! Bear with me as I settle in! :)**


	7. Chapter 7 - Blue Eyes and Blue Skies

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: First 2 weeks of class over. Phew! Here's the next chapter; enjoy! PS: if anyone ever wants to do some fanart, I would totally love to see that and maybe even feature the link with the next chapter? I need some cover art as well, and I'm no good at drawing humans ;)**

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"Well, that was delicious, and I don't think I could handle another bite," Thalia said, taking the last sip of her beverage.

Luke smiled. "I'm glad you liked it." He signed the bill and helped Thalia out of her seat as they departed from the restaurant.

"Should I call you a cab?" Luke asked her with the same gentlemanly air he always seemed to carry with him, at least around her.

Thalia smiled. "No, thank you. I drove here, but you can walk me to my car?" Her teeth caught her lip as she proposed the question uncertainly.

"Of course," Luke said quickly. He offered his arm with a smirk and Thalia looped her hand gingerly through it. The walk was short and the air had turned brisk despite the beginning of spring, but it was bearable for the two of them, lost in their own world to any passersby. Thalia unlocked the car when they arrived, and hesitated before opening the door. Seeing her hesitation as an opportunity, Luke reached around her for the door handle. He leaned an elbow on the top of the door frame as Thalia thanked him with a hidden blush, sliding into her seat. She fumbled in her handbag, and retrieved a small object.

"Call me if you're staying in LA for more than a few days?" She held out a small business card between two slender fingers, her nails characteristically painted black. As soon as Luke had taken the card with an expression Thalia could tell he was trying to hide, and one that she couldn't distinguish into any single emotion, the safety alarm of the rental car went off, causing Luke to spring away from the vehicle while Thalia scrambled to find the keys again, muttering a few colorful words in the meantime. Once the alarm had finally been silenced, Luke cleared his throat.

"Well, have a good evening, Thalia Grace." That stupid smile was back, the one that was _slowly_ chipping away at Thalia's heart. Luke shut the car door for her and waited by the curb for her to depart safely, before Thalia saw him turn away in her rear view mirror.

When she got back to the hotel, Thalia wasn't surprised to find that Zoë was sitting erect on her bed with a larger-than-life grin. " _Soooo_? How'd it go? I want all the gooey details!" she declared instantly.

"Give me another half hour to get ready for bed and you can have it all," Thalia responded with a roll of her eyes. She set her bag down and sighed, wanting nothing more than to take off her makeup, let her hair down, and pass out on the bed. But true to her word, she shared the evening's details with Zoë, who couldn't share her interest in men but who was happy to play the role of cheerleader for her friend. "And his outfit was just on point. I felt like an idiot, and was trying so hard just to not drool on my plate whenever he talked to me," Thalia concluded with a shy smile.

"Do you think he'll call you tonight? Or maybe tomorrow? Ooh, maybe he'll plan some kind of sightseeing picnic for you two by the beach," Zoë suggested excitedly. Leave it to her to be the wishful thinker for a romance-movie date night ending.

"How much of the hotel chocolates have you had? I don't think he'll do any of that. We won't be a _thing_ , Zoh. We can't. He's busy, I'm busy, and we're at different places all the time. It just wouldn't work," Thalia shrugged, despite Zoë's dissenting opinions.

-x-

In fact, he did all three things. Just before midnight, Luke called her cell phone from his own personal number, under the excuse that he wanted to make sure he'd put the contact information into his phone correctly, much to the defense of Thalia's teasing response. ( _Too much champagne and now your screen is blurry, is it_?) The next morning he had called her to say that he was leaving the city for three days, but that he was returning for two weeks for his own spring vacation. And once those three days had passed, Luke Castellan called Thalia up yet a _third_ time to request lunch with her on the Santa Monica pier, which both Thalia and Zoë agreed was _very_ close to a sightseeing picnic.

"So how is your research going for the theater set?" Luke asked Thalia as they walked up the boardwalk. He was holding a funnel cake, and she was munching on a bag of popcorn, having finished their lunch about an hour ago. It was hard for Thalia to not look at him. The weather was perfect for illuminating his bright blue eyes, and Luke looked very ready for summer in a pale coral button-down top, with the arms rolled above his elbows, and he had navy blue bermuda shorts on as well, with comfy looking white espadrilles. _Oh yes, this man knows how to dress to impress, and I'm falling hard_. Thalia had dressed comfortably herself, with a lacy dark grey top and white shorts, and she had some beige sandals on. She didn't usually prefer to wear white, but Zoë had convinced her to go with something a little different. The shorts were Zoë's after all.

"Research has been good, if you liking having the be-geezers scared out of you. Zoë and I got a private tour of the abandoned Rancho Los Amigos Hotel yesterday. I don't think I'll be going by there again any time soon," Thalia said with a shudder. "There's something insane going on over there. I don't want any part of it. To make matters worse, Zoë wants to take a tour of the Queen Mary Hotel tomorrow night. Next thing you know, we're going to be hearing ghost stories about our hotel."

Luke laughed. "Not a fan of ghost stories, are you? I'm not much of a fan of them myself," he said.

"This is going to sound really stupid, but can you come with us?" Thalia asked him imploringly. She ate a handful of popcorn while awaiting his response.

"You just want to hear me scream when a ghost comes after us, don't you?" Luke teased her. "Yeah, sure, I can come with you two." He smiled, noticing how evident Thalia's relief was.

"So which ride are we riding first?" Thalia asked with a grin, desperate to change the subject. Conveniently they had just arrived at the entrance to the rides. "How about the West Coaster?" She pointed to the large, yellow ride, complete with dips and swirls.

"Sounds fun," Luke agreed. They finished their snacks and then jumped in line.

Fifteen minutes later, their safety straps were lowered and the ride took off. Thalia wasn't conscious of her screams, and was confused when the ride ended and all Luke could do was laugh and try to explain why.

"Oh, shut up," Thalia said, cracking a smile. "Go win me a teddy bear or something." Sure enough, he did just that. Well, not a teddy bear exactly, but a cute little blue and green stuffed turtle. Thalia clutched the turtle for the rest of their day on the pier, like a child with a favorite toy that they just couldn't leave at home. As they drove back to Thalia's hotel, they chatted about their favorite rides and foods from the pier, and for once Thalia didn't feel as if the only thing that she had to look forward to in her life was her work. She looked forward to spending time with this blonde stranger, and hoped that soon he wouldn't be so much of a stranger to her, but a good friend. Maybe more, if she truly felt hopeful. She stopped herself from thinking about the few short days that she and Zoë had left in Los Angeles, but at the same time she was curious as to when she might see him again once this particular vacation was officially over. The skies were bright, clear, and blue, and she prayed to whoever was listening that they could stay that way for a while.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: Bit of a late upload, but it's within the two weeks I said I'd get it done in! Although I'll admit most of that was done yesterday and today...so we'll just pretend that it's cohesive enough because I'm too tired to proofread it right now :P Next chapter's going to be a little different, but in a good way, I think. That's the only hint you get!**


	8. Chapter 8 - In His Eyes

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: WHAAAATT?! Early updates are a nice surprise, no? So this is the "different" chapter. It's a bit of a _short_ interlude from Luke's POV. Sorry (** ** _read: not sorry_** **) if this is super sappy and not really "masculine" thoughts; I'm a woman, and a hopeless romantic. Deal with it ;)**

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 _She was special._

Luke Castellan knew that the first time that he looked at her. Of course, she didn't notice _him_ right away. He was just the staff. She was gazing out the window, and she appeared to be worried about something. He was about to say something to comfort her when an elderly woman arrived and he instead helped her with storing her carry on luggage. When he had a moment to go speak with her (the excuse disguised as an employee's courtesy), another man had already seated himself one seat over. Luke almost laughed at this, for he could see immediately that they were polar opposites. An opportunity had presented itself, then, and he found a way to convince the man to change seats, and inevitably exchanged the seat beside this curious girl for his own first class seat at the front of the plane.

 _She was charming_.

In a completely clueless fashion. Thalia Grace. It was a charming name to fit a charming personality. Luke thanked whoever was watching out for him upstairs that this girl had crossed paths with him. The way she nervously wound and unwound her headphones cord around her fingers was a habit that Luke admired with a soft smirk on his lips. They didn't talk much on that plane ride, but Luke did enjoy the short moments of conversation that they _did_ have.

 _She was a puzzle_.

It was taking him forever to find the pieces, let alone put them where they went. But he had the feeling that the result would be something wonderful. It only made him more eager to find the pieces. When they met again for the second occasion, when she went out to eat dinner with her father and it coincidentally was the same restaurant he was dining in, Luke wasted no time giving her a signal. At least something to remember him by that wasn't of the mindset that he was only a flight attendant. He was determined to finish this puzzle, and he would need to get to know her to do that. And once this puzzle was complete, he couldn't wait to revel in the image that it would reveal to them both.

 _She was a soft-glowing star_.

Not wanting to draw attention to herself, not directly. She did the behind-the-scenes things. Literally. But somehow Luke felt as if he could follow Thalia and never be lost. There was just _something_ about her that intrigued him and gave him the courage to confront her again.

 _She was human_.

She had fears (namely flying and ghosts), and she had dreams. The things that she wasn't even aware she did, her unique mannerisms, were also what draw Luke's attention to the girl. Somehow he just felt that she would change his life, whether good or bad (and he couldn't say he'd really be disappointed with the latter if it came to that).

 _She was beautiful_.

Outwardly _and_ inwardly. Her raven black hair had an almost unreal shimmer in the spring sun, and her eyes were as blue as the sky on the brightest day. Her skin glowed when they were together, it seemed, and he had the hopefulness that he was the reason. Beneath the surface, he could see a bold, fiery personality that didn't fear rejection. She would do what it took to chase her dreams, and he didn't think anyone would be able to tell her no.

He was falling hard, like he never had before. To him, it had been love at first sight, although he would never admit it. He didn't believe in that stuff, not really, and here he was about to blame it for his affections. There was something about this that shouted _fate_ and he wasn't going to jinx himself by ignoring the signs. Of course, he _was_ about to take a creepy tour of a haunted ship and come out squealing like a child. _Embarrassing_. But if there's one thing that Luke had become suddenly aware of in his reminiscing, it was that:

 _She was worth it_ , worth it all. And he figured it was time for her to know.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please rate and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: What did you guys think about this chapter? I liked it. Might do one for Thalia later...but for now we'll get back to the main story next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9 - The Haunted Queen

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Here we go! Just on time :) As always, I love to hear the feedback. If you've been reviewing as a guest, I'd just like to give a quick shout out to you and say thanks for enjoying the story. I'd love to reply to your comments, so I would totally love if you created an account, even if you don't ever post a story, so that we can chat! (Heck, that's what I did for a few years before creating this story!)**

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"I still can't believe we're doing this." Thalia was shaking her head as she brushed her hair. Last night she had stayed up late with Zoë, discussing new changes to their set designs.

"Oh relax. It's not _really_ haunted...I think," Zoë replied with a smirk.

Zoë had helped Thalia pick an outfit for the day, something understated and casual, but something she insisted that Luke would like. This outfit consisted of black skinny jeans and charcoal colored combat boots, as well as an ivory half-sleeve top with a moderately low neckline. In return Thalia had helped to make sure that Zoë looked impressive herself for her first face-to-face meeting with Luke. She was wearing a grey, white-striped over the shoulder sweater and white leggings, and she was wearing matching white sandals.

"Whenever you say 'I think', something happens to go wrong," Thalia said dubiously. She playfully threw a towel at Zoë, and returned her attention to the hotel mirror where she was adding the finishing touches of her makeup.

Zoë just laughed at her and stood near the door, waiting for her coworker. When they were both confident that they looked good enough to be seen in public, Thalia joined her and they took the elevator to the ground floor, where Luke would be waiting to drive them to the cruise ship where their tour would be taking place. He had been kind enough to offer to take them, despite Thalia's attempt to dissuade him.

Thalia elbowed Zoë when they emerged from the hotel, where Luke was leaning against his rental car. Zoë had let out a low whistle when she had first caught a glimpse of Thalia, and Thalia was silently willing Zoë not to embarrass either of them.

"You girls look lovely," Luke told them as he opened the passenger door and the rear door. As Zoë neared, he extended his hand. "I don't believe we've met in person. Luke Castellan."

Zoë smiled kindly and took his hand. "Zoë Nightshade."

"It's nice to meet you, Zoë Nightshade," Luke said. "Well girls, if you would kindly climb into my vehicle, we'll be off." He smirked playfully, well aware of the suggestiveness of the sentence. Zoë started laughing first, followed by Luke and Thalia's own outbursts chiming in. Zoë winked at Thalia as she moved to the rear of the car, leaving the passenger seat to her comrade. Luke closed their doors and walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver's seat, started the engine, and drove them away from the hotel.

Luke stopped the car when they reached the port on Long Beach. There was the Queen Mary before them, lit all over with white, softly glowing lights. The ship seemed inviting enough, but from the end of the pier, there was definitely a strange, eerie quietness.

"Ready, gals?" Luke asked them, shifting the car back into drive and circling the pier to find the parking lot.

"Oh, yes. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and I intend to enjoy every second," Zoë said with a nearly malicious smirk.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Thalia said with a meek shrug. Truthfully, her stomach was churning. She hated the paranormal stuff, at least when it messed with her physically like all that poltergeist stuff. She could watch paranormal horror shows, but she preferred to be safely separated from them by her TV screen. Not that she would admit that to anyone.

Luke escorted them to the entrance, and they each fronted the money for their individual tour tickets. Thalia saw a sign that dictated that large groups were recommended to reserve tickets in advance because they could not be guaranteed to be in the same tour otherwise, but she paid the warning no further attention. The trio passed the security check with ease (having nothing to be checked since they were not staying overnight) and waited in line for their tour to begin. Already there was a large crowd.

Zoë was still grinning with excitement, but Thalia's lips were drawn tight with obvious tension. Zoë started chatting about the ship's history, which she had previously researched in their hotel room, not caring necessarily if Thalia or Luke were listening.

Luke stood behind Thalia, and noticed her silence. He leaned in close to her and whispered, _"You don't have to do this."_

Thalia half turned and looked at him. "I appreciate that, but I'm fine. Really." She forced a slight smile from the corner of her lips. She forced her sweaty palms into the pockets of her pants and tried to focus on anything but the haunted tour they were about to take. When the line started to move, Thalia remained still. Luke's palm rested softly on her elbow, and that was the only contact capable of making her move. She knew it was childish of her, but nonetheless she couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to leave. But she didn't want to abandon Zoë and Luke after they'd already paid. Thalia squared her shoulders and followed Zoë, taking some selfish comfort in the fact that Luke's hand was still on her arm, almost protectively.

A man stopped them at the doorway of the ship and asked for their tickets. He marked them, returned them, and waved the trio through. They were the last people of their group. The tour had started. Thalia thought she felt the ship shudder beneath her feet, but when she looked at the other tourists, nobody else seemed alarmed, so she suppressed the panic at her throat and forced herself to relax. She began to sing a song in her head, using anything to distract her.

Not fifteen minutes had passed before Thalia's nerves got to her and she couldn't hide them anymore. Zoë was soaking the experience in, and even taking notes on the more haunting details-most of them Thalia assumed was just tales that the staff used to keep the guests entertained. When the group began to depart some metal stairs to the old bunks that the ship's crew slept in, Thalia turned away and wavered at the stairs edge.

Luke noticed Thalia's hesitation and got Zoë's attention. He pulled her near and whispered something in her ear. The other girl nodded and departed down the stairs with the rest of the group, but Luke stayed behind. "Zoë's gone to tell the guide that we're turning around...if that's what you'd like to do. You don't look too comfortable."

"I feel sick. I need air," Thalia croaked. She had begun to sweat, but it was a cold, nervous sweat, and she was beginning to feel dizzy. Luke's hand extended in her direction and she took it. Thalia forgot about a small partition in the floor that was raised above the otherwise flat surface, and the toe of her shoe caught the lip. She lost her balance and her body was flung in Luke's direction.

"Whoa, you're alright. Just don't throw up on my shoes, m'kay?" Luke acted quickly, catching her by her upper arms and using Thalia's forward momentum to lift her up over the partition and get her standing upright again. He wrapped an arm securely around her and led her back to the tour entrance. Thinking quickly, they made a turn just before the doorway that would lead them through the proper exit and save Thalia from any personal embarrassment at not being able to complete the tour with the group. Just past the exit, Luke spotted a bench, lit by a tall lamp post, and eased Thalia onto it, sitting close to her.

"How's that?" he asked her quietly, searching her face for any signs of sickness or pain.

Thalia mumbled a response, although she was just staring down at the wooden ground beneath them. Her breathing was quiet, but she was trembling slightly as she felt the nerves coursing through her body. She tried to control her breathing just as she did when she was working up on the catwalks, putting together lighting cables, but it only made her dizzier.

"Well, I'm here, and we're out in the fresh air. You're alright. I'm here...I'm here...you'll be just fine." His voice was soothing. As soft to the ears as silk was to the fingertips. Thalia took a few deep breaths and was finally able to sit up a little more. She avoided looking at Luke, but did speak.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you turn around. And those tickets were so expensive," she rambled. "I didn't think I'd get so worked up. I don't know what happened." She worked her hands against each other, and then rubbed them on her jeans to try and rid herself of the clammy, cold sweat feeling.

"Don't sweat it. Er, no pun intended. I'd rather you feel alright at the expense of my tour ticket than you suffering through the rest of the tour," Luke said.

Thalia smiled slightly. "That's very kind of you. I can't say anyone else has ever made such a kind gesture for me. And I am feeling better now. Thanks."

"I'm happy to have been the first, then. Although, maybe you'll have to make up for it with a milkshake tomorrow."

"Are you asking me on a date? I must be hallucinating."

Luke's laugh was like medicine, but the spoonful-of-sugar kind. It was helping Thalia's mind ease away from her nausea. She gave a weak laugh herself. Her eyes shifted to her hand when she felt the pressure of Luke's own hand on top of it. She forced herself to meet his eyes.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Thalia Grace." His contagious smile influenced the small grin spreading on Thalia's face.

 _[To be continued. I have several chapters in mind for this story, so we'll see where it goes!]_

 **Please rate and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: Well, I've never been to the Queen Mary, but I did do a bit of research through their tour website. It's probably still got a few errors, but it's fiction! :)**


	10. Chapter 10 - What He Doesn't Know

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: I am SO SO SO SO sorry guys! Life got the better of me, as well as my family lol. Anyway, enjoy this fluffy chapter! ;)**

* * *

"I'll take good care of her, I promise," Zoë was saying as Luke's rental car turned into the girls' hotel parking lot at the end of their evening.

"Alright, I trust you. Give me a call if you gals need anything, though," Luke offered.

Zoë helped Thalia out of the backseat of the car, where she'd been resting. Thalia thanked Luke with a weak smile, and they departed into the building as Luke's vehicle receded.

"I can't believe myself," Thalia said, scowling, when they were back in their hotel room. "That was so embarrassing!"

"Thals, it's not your fault. And it wasn't embarrassing. Girl, you have that man wrapped around your fingers by now. He was _more than happy_ to stay behind with you, and not just to make sure that you weren't going to pass out or something. He used it as an excuse just to be with you. I said it before, but I think it's worth repeating. He's a _keeper_ , and he is _fine_."

Thalia sighed. She gathered her pajamas so that she could just change and go to sleep. From behind the bathroom door, she answered, "I don't know. What if he _was_ just being nice? How are you so confident that this fantasy were creating might actually be reality?" She returned barefoot to the main room and found her eyes meeting Zoë's impatient expression. "What?"

"You're looking at this all wrong. It's totally obvious to anyone but you that he likes you. _Really_ likes you," Zoë replied, and giggled as Thalia's nose crinkled in confusion.

"I don't know. I want to believe that, but you know me. I just can't," Thalia sighed. She flopped down on her hotel bed and groaned audibly.

"Having a nice pity party? Look, why don't you just call him. He _wants_ to hear from you, or else he wouldn't have offered the help when we left the car, remember?" Zoë sat down next to Thalia on the same bed. "What's wrong with you? You never act like this."

"I like him Zoë. I do. But come on, it can't work. I have that feeling again," Thalia muttered into the sheets. "And he'd always be busy anyway, with flights, and I'm trying to get to Broadway, and-"

"Oh, shut up. You're making excuses. You can at least _try_ to make this work before saying no."

"No."

"Thals."

"No."

"Text him. Just say thanks again. Something to let him know you really are okay. And that way maybe he won't get the impression you're too embarrassed to see him again? That's the last thing you need," Zoë said, shrugging. "Huh. I should write a relationship advice novel."

Thalia snorted at that, and both girls laughed.

"I'm gonna make some popcorn and we can watch TV before we crash. How does that sound?" Zoë asked.

Thalia turned over onto her side and grinned. "Sounds great," she said. She fished her cell phone out of her purse, which was perched on the nightstand between their beds, and opened up a new text message. She and Zoë shared a smirk before Zoë got up to make their snack.

 **T:** _hey, just wanted 2 say thx 4 staying behind w/me QueenMary. meant lots_

Not even a minute later, her phone buzzed with a reply.

 **L:** _of course ;) would b glad 2 do it again._

Thalia smiled. She was beginning to believe Zoë about Luke's kindness. She was about to respond when her phone buzzed again.

 **L:** _any chance ur free 2morrow lunch?_

 **T:** _zoë and I r going shopping in morning, I think, but I can b. Y?_

 **L:** _surprise. meet ur hotel 1?_

 **T:** _ok :)_

"I know that look. Spill," Zoë chirped, returning with a large bowl of popcorn and the TV remote. She placed the bowl in front of Thalia, who scooped out a handful, and flipped channels to find a good show. When Thalia told her the plans she'd made, Zoë nearly spit popcorn in her face.

"I was right! I am so right," Zoë said with a smirk, hitting Thalia's arm. "But I can't believe you're spending your last day in LA with him and not me," she said with a mock pout.

"Oh shut up. You and I are going shopping first, and _you_ were the one who encouraged me to text him back," Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"He does know it's your last day, tomorrow, right?" Zoë asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course," Thalia said. _Lying through your teeth,_ her conscious reprimanded her. _What he doesn't know can't hurt him. I'll tell him later. Maybe._

"Mhm. Well let's get our movie on," Zoë said, offering the popcorn bowl between them.

-x-

"So are you going back to tell me what the surprise is yet?" Thalia asked Luke once they had reached downtown LA.

"Nope. You'll figure it out soon enough," Luke said, taking his eyes away from the road for a moment to give her a sly smile.

Thalia laughed. "Okay, Mr. Mysterious."

Luke chuckled warmly at that, and Thalia felt a rush of warmth through her body, followed by ice. "Uh, Luke-"

"Here we are," Luke chirped, pulling into a sandy parking lot facing the beach. He must not have heard Thalia calling his name. He parked the vehicle beside a dock that was occupied by several ships, ranging from deep sea shrimping boats to tow boats used for water skiing closer to shore. There was also a collection of small yachts, one of which was more decoratively lit than the others. He gave Thalia a mischievous smirk as he helped her out of her seat. She was trying to hide the confusion and of surprise, but she was sure she wasn't succeeding. She let herself be led to the lit up yacht.

"Oh," she breathed as he opened the door. "Luke, you really didn't have to do this." The yacht was set up perfectly for a date, complete with all of the _romance-y_ ambiance. A single, small, round table awaited them. The entire gesture was filled with thought, but it wasn't too overstated.

"Well I kind of did," Luke said, raising an eyebrow while motioning her inside. "When were you going to tell me that you're leaving tomorrow?"

Thalia whirled around. "How did-Zoë told you?" She realized that her eyes had probably popped out of her head, but she couldn't help it. When Luke escorted her to the table, Thalia fought to keep her hands from trembling with excitement and anxiety.

"Look, I know you're about to go back to your job, and you're going to be busy with your set designs and taking over the company-" Thalia snorted at this, but allowed Luke to finish, "but I just wanted to make sure that you and I had one last night together. Call it cheesy, or cliché, whatever. I ah, well, just thought that you deserved to know how special I think you are."

Thalia blushed. She looked down at the table cloth, rubbing her palms nervously on her jeans. _Why didn't you dress up more?_ "This is probably the sweetest gesture anybody has made for me. Ever. I can't thank you enough. I've had a great time." She put a lousy smile on her face and forced herself to look at him.

Luke reached across the table, nonverbally asking for her hand. Thalia obliged, embarrassed with her clammy fingertips (although Luke didn't seem to mind). "I know it would be difficult, but I'd really like to keep seeing you, Thalia. I'd rather not let the great times end here in Los Angeles."

Thalia's breath caught in her throat, and she bit her lip, a smile creeping up on the corner of her lips. "I-"

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please rate and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N: Sorry again for being so late! I'll try to get back to my regular biweekly publishing asap! And of course, you guys just cannot wait to hear Thalia's response, can you?! I know I can't!**


	11. Chapter 11 - One More Night

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Early update, as another apology for being so late last week xD Sorry not sorry for the feels. As always, let me know what you think, or any predictions you've got. I love to read the reviews! :)**

* * *

"I can't." Thalia nearly winced as the words escaped her lips in a disheartened whisper. Luke's crestfallen expression didn't make it any easier, either. "I'm sorry. It's not that I don't appreciate everything you've done, and it's not that I haven't had fun while you've been here. I just...I have a lot of things to sort out back home and I have a very demanding job. I don't think it would be fair to either of us to give false hope." _Things to sort out? Like what? You're only pushing him away because you're scared to draw him too close._ Thalia forced herself to hold his gaze, hoping that her eyes would betray her words, or at least lessen the blow.

Luke drew in a long breath before exhaling slowly, and nodding. "I understand. It was worth a shot," he said, attempting a smile from the corner of his mouth, and only partially succeeding. "I don't suppose any argument I might make would change your mind?"

Thalia shook her head somberly. "No."

"Well in that case, let's make this night worth its while, and see if we can't suspend time a little longer." There was the smile. Even with such a response as the one Thalia gave him, the man sure knew how to lighten the mood. Thalia mirrored his smile.

"What's for dinner?"

"You'll see."

As if by magic, a young man in an expensive looking suit appeared from the back of the yacht with a tray of food. Wordlessly, he presented their meals and poured their drinks (although Thalia was slightly disappointed to see a red wine on the table instead of champagne or another white wine) before receding from where he had come. Thalia observed her food with an inquisitive expression. "Lamb? So formal," she teased Luke.

"Can't help it. I really like the stuff. And I thought you deserved to be spoiled on your last day here in Los Angeles," Luke said with a nonchalant shrug.

Thalia smiled. Their meal passed quickly and with light conversation and a few refills on their drinks, but there was a slight tension in the air that was annoying Thalia. _Perfect last date, hmm? You just had to go and kill the mood._ When their plates had been cleared, Luke had reached across the table and clasped Thalia's hand. She let it stay, her gaze shifting slowly from their intertwined fingers to his face. The pang of guilt in her chest still hadn't gone away, and she couldn't hold her gaze for long.

"Might I interest you in a dance?"

Luke's voice cut Thalia out of her self pitying, and she couldn't help but smile with admiration as she nodded and let him draw her out of her seat. She raised an eyebrow accusingly when the melody of a song's intro began to play as they stepped away from their table toward the roomier center of the boat. Luke only gave another noncommittal shrug as he slid one of his palms around her waist, still clasping her hand with the other. Thalia stepped close to him and rested her palm gently on his shoulder. Thalia was sure that if she held his gaze for too long that she might melt and never make it back to New York. The candlelight reflecting in his eyes transformed them into glowing sapphires, revealing every emotion that he held toward Thalia, and his grip was polite and gentle. _Somebody pinch me. Or slap me awake._

As they danced, Thalia's mind wandered. She couldn't recognize the song lyrics anymore, they had faded away. She could only hear the war within her heart, the side of her demanding to take back her words and the other side, the practical side, telling her that she did the right thing. She was only partially aware when the distance between her and Luke closed and her head was leaning on his shoulder as they stopped their steps and gave in to slow sways instead. Thalia breathed in his scent, mingled with the cologne that he'd put on for the evening. She tried to commit the scent to memory, knowing already that she would miss it. That she would be thinking of him every day for weeks, making herself miserable.

Neither of them paid attention to how long they danced, and neither of them cared. At least three hours had passed since Luke had picked her up from the hotel, but neither of them wanted to admit that their evening was approaching its end.

"Thalia?"

Thalia started, not recognizing the source of the word for the shortest moment. There was something _else_ in Luke's tone that piqued her curiosity, causing her to look up.

"I'm going to miss you."

Thalia bit her lip and responded with silence, not trusting her voice with anything more. Her gaze flickered away in a brief hesitation. Surrendering to her emotions for the first time that evening, her hand that had been previously resting on Luke's shoulder had glided across the skin at the base of his neck and she applied a gentle downward pressure as her fingers pushed gently through his pale blonde hair. She lifted her body up onto the balls of her feet and her lips brushed against his, waiting for his response. When it came, a chill passed through Thalia's body like a small shock. She kissed him again, more decidedly this time, just to feel the pleasure of his lips on hers. It was everything she'd secretly hoped for, and more.

It was the first, and probably the last.

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please rate and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: What song do you think they were dancing to? I like to think it was Phil Collins' _One More Night_ , but then I'm a softie for Phil Collins, and well, most 80s pop. I'm almost certain I was born a generation too late. **


	12. Chapter 12 - Status Quo Ante

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Happy Halloween! / For those of you who don't want to Google the chapter's name and what it means: "status quo ante" (noun): the state of affairs that existed previously. ;)**

* * *

Thalia pulled her carry on luggage free from its compartment with a grunt, handing it to Zoë while she grabbed hers next.

"Let's get out if here as quickly as we can before it gets too crowded," Zoë grumbled. Having just been rudely awoken from her nap by a young child kicking her seat, the last thing Zoë wanted was to be at the airport any longer than she had to be. Quite frankly, Thalia couldn't agree more. She couldn't wait to take a nice long bath in her new apartment. Then she frowned. She hadn't had any time to move in yet, so she was still going to have to crash at her dad's.

One long hour later, they hailed a cab that would take them to Zoë's place first.

"Earth to Thalia," Zoë said shortly after they'd arrived. "Thinking about Luke again, I see. It's a shame you let him go the way you did. But ya know, there's always that saying: _If you love something set it free, and if it flies after you, it's yours._ Or something like that." She smirked and Thalia just rolled her eyes.

"What were you saying _before_ that?"

"Sure you don't want to stay a bit longer?" Zoë asked as Thalia prepared to leave to get a cab to her dad's apartment.

"That's alright, I've got to start packing things for my new place. But I'll have to solicit your help to buy some new furniture later this week," Thalia grinned. They said their farewells and when Thalia got home, she unpacked quickly and started a load of laundry before soaking in the tub. Her father wasn't home, so she figured he was working with a client out of town. An hour and half later she was too exhausted. She changed into pajamas and passed out not even five minutes later in her own bed.

The next morning, after a restless night of sleep and after getting ready for work, Thalia had spare time to pack her belongings so that in the evening she could take them to her new apartment. When she got to work, Zoë solicited her help in presenting not just their boss, but their boss's boss, with their findings for making a realistic set. Not for the first time, Thalia forced herself to stop thinking about Luke as she began her attempt to adjust back to her work routine in the city. She had always disliked vacations. They were too distracting, and hard to get over when it was finished and when the work had to begin again. _Not unlike relationships_ , the pessimistic part of her recanted.

"Reyna? Did you have a moment to talk with us now?" Zoë asked, knocking on the doorframe of their boss's private office. Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, the chief director of _Amphitheatre Production Design_ , the company which both Thalia and Zoë worked for, was a kind woman who knew how to get things done while still showing compassion for her staff. Thalia could remember her early days of interning for Reyna, and fondly reminisced about her "climb up the ladder."

Now, she didn't see much of Reyna, because as the business had grown, Reyna had hired other managers to help out. One of those managers was Octavian, Thalia and Zoë's current supervisor who had cleared their trip in the first place. Thalia wasn't too fond of the guy-he was generally very brash and uptight-but there was nothing she could do except put up with him until she (hopefully) got a promotion.

"Sure, come on in, ladies." Reyna sat behind her desk with her fingers crossed. She was dressed pristinely in a pale, almost white, gold-colored blazer, accented with royal purple, her favorite color. Among the trinkets that Thalia had never seen Reyna's office deprived of, she was fond of a small silver and gold paperweight of two greyhound figurines. It was usually used to hold down important reminders, or rested just to the left of Reyna's computer monitor.

Zoë went inside first, opening her laptop to show Reyna the mock-ups she'd already started. Thalia followed her in, and began to explain what these mock-ups meant and what supplies they would need. Zoë also gave Reyna a cost estimate of the project.

"Well, you two certainly had a productive trip, hmm?" Reyna said.

"Very," Zoë said, with a sly wink in Thalia's direction that the chief director conveniently didn't see. Thalia narrowed her eyes playfully at her colleague.

"I'll show these to Octavian and have him start putting in orders for equipment. You'll be meeting with him for any further developments. Nice work, ladies. I expect we'll be ahead of schedule with both of you in the field," Reyna told them. She returned Zoë's laptop and dismissed them from the office.

"That turned out well. We're going to be very busy for the next few weeks," Thalia said. Zoë gave her an _mm-hmm_ and a smile before she departed to her own office.

If she admitted it to herself, even if she wasn't about to admit it to anybody else, Thalia was only relieved for the heavy workload to come to keep her mind off of _distractions_.

-x-

"Thalia? Oh, good, you're here."

Thalia suppressed a groan when she recognized the owner of the voice. Octavian. There was a knock on the top of her desk, and she finished the email she had been typing out before looking up.

"Wanted to run these ideas by you real fast. Just a few design changes to cut some costs on money," Octavian continued. He pressed a few papers down onto her desk space. He may have been obnoxious about it, but Octavian's plans were smart in the economical sense. They spent about an hour discussing the changes before they were satisfied, and Octavian departed.

After lunch, Thalia began working in one of the larger studio rooms that housed several of the larger props that they worked on, the ones that weren't already at the theater where the play would be performed. She spent a few hours painting before she returned to her father's apartment to get the few boxes of her belongings and finally place them in her new apartment. When she got there, she put the boxes on the mattress and frame that was currently passing as the bed in her new bedroom. Just as she was straightening her paint-stained shirt, the doorbell rang. She rushed to answer it, not knowing who to expect. "Piper! What are you doing here?"

"Well, Jason told me you got a new place, and I'm here to help you get it turned into a home," Piper said with a grin on her face.

Thalia laughed. "Then come on in. I was just about to make coffee, and then we'll use my laptop to start ordering." She closed the door behind Piper, grabbed her kitchen box from the bedroom, and put it on the bare counter. Piper removed two mugs while Thalia plugged in the coffee pot and added the ingredients.

Ten minutes later they were in Thalia's room, sitting on her bed. "Not even a couch in the living room. This place is forcing you to start from the bottom up!" Piper was complaining with a laugh. They were making a list for each room of specific items that they needed, both immediate and less so. By six, they were exhausting the third piece of notebook paper where the list was scrawled.

"I'm going to call in a pizza, if you wanted to stay a bit longer," Thalia offered.

"That sounds great. Jason can pick me up around eight. We're going to see a movie," Piper beamed.

"How's my kid brother doing with all of that army prep stuff?" Thalia asked, reaching for her phone and dialing a local pizza delivery that she liked.

"It's an adjustment, but you Graces aren't quitters, and I can tell he enjoys it despite the hard work and time away from me," Piper said approvingly.

"Good. I'm happy for him," Thalia said. She put the phone to her ear and wrote another item on the list. What she didn't see was Piper's smile that turned into a worrisome frown, and the sudden glistening in her eyes. "Yeah, happy," the young girl murmured to herself.

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: I finally figured out a name for the design place Thalia and Zoë work for, and who runs it haha. I think it's fitting that Reyna would be the director (aka...praetor? No?) of the design company.**


	13. Chapter 13 - Keep Calm & Have a Drink

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Kind of a "filler" chapter, but we're leading up to things ;)**

* * *

"Is that the last of it?" Zoë asked with a grunt, pushing Thalia's new ottoman into its proper place. They had spent the last few days arranging her new belongings, the belongings that Piper had helped pick out three weeks prior.

"Yeah. I really appreciate the help, Zo," Thalia said. "Want something to drink?"

"Water's fine," Zoë responded, reclining on Thalia's new cream colored couch. Thalia joined her a moment later, holding the water as well as a soda for herself, and they turned on the TV.

"Thalia, it's been a month. Have you called him back yet, or even texted him?" Zoë interrupted after a moment.

"I'm fine, and that's none of your business," Thalia said quickly, keeping her eyes on the TV screen.

"Thalia, you can't just press pause on Luke like that. You'll regret it. Believe me, I know you."

"I don't want to talk about this. I just want to watch some TV and relax, okay?"

She knew it wasn't fair. She knew she was making excuses. But she was still getting the rest of her life together, and she didn't think it would be fair to get Luke's hopes up, even if she did still get butterflies when she thought about him, about his blue eyes and gentlemanly manners and his scent and his voice and-No. She wouldn't do that to herself. At least not now.

The rest of the evening passed quickly and before they knew it, it was time for Zoë to get home so that they could drag themselves out of bed early the next morning for work. As Thalia opened the door, Zoë spoke again.

"Thals, you know I'm just looking out for you. I could care less about how Luke feels, but I don't want to see you hurt yourself like this. Just give him a call tonight, okay?"

"Okay. Fine," Thalia surrendered her arguments, biting her tongue instead. She gave Zoë a soft smile. "See you bright and early." The door closed between them and Thalia let out a heavy sigh, padding back to the kitchen to make a mug of tea. She took a relaxing shower, hoping her muscles wouldn't be sore in the morning after all of the furniture moving she did, and receded to her room. Her phone was sitting on her nightstand invitingly, and she frowned. Thalia looked away from the accursed object and proceeded to pull her sheets away from the mattress. Her eyes betraying her, she glanced again at the cell phone. Cursing under her breath, Thalia picked it up and dialed with trembling fingers.

-x-

"I wanted to personally commend each and every one of you who had a part in our latest project. It's teamwork on projects like these that really prove how dedicated this company is, and how dedicated you all are to the efforts you make."

Reyna had gathered everybody together in the main lobby and had read them an excerpt from a local magazine that raved about the play they had recently designed, and had given extra praise to the set designs in particular. Thalia and Zoë shared a grin.

"Congratulations, ladies," Octavian said to Thalia and Zoë, once the announcement was officially over with. "Look, I'm going out tonight with a few of the senior designers to celebrate. Care to join? Drinks will be on us."

Pausing to mull over the idea, Thalia finally nodded. "Sure, thanks," she said.

Octavian grinned, although it barely reached his intrusive blue-eyed gaze. "Great. I'll send you an email with the place and time." Like that, he was gone, and his intrusive eyes were replaced with those of Zoë's.

"Really, Thals? You hate him, why did you just say yes?" Zoë exclaimed incredulously.

"Senior designers, Zo. If we have to deal with Octavian, fine, but this is a chance for us to "climb the corporate ladder", if you will. Get our names and faces out there and get in a position to earning promotions, or even internships for another design firm," Thalia explained. "Come on, just go with me. If it's boring, we'll leave early. Besides, since when did you turn down a free drink?" she teased. After a bit more coaxing, Zoë finally relented.

"But only because I'd rather go with you than have you go alone with him."

Thalia smiled. "Thanks."

"Mm hmm. I'll catch you later. And you're picking me up." Zoë was gone shortly after that, flipping her long hair over one shoulder in an act of contempt.

That afternoon, Octavian was true to his word, and Thalia received an email invite to the bar. She forwarded the information to Zoë and resumed her work until she left around 4:30. When she got to her apartment, she changed into something a bit more comfortable (although she thankfully persuaded herself out of wearing a dress), put a curling iron to her hair to give the normally straight black hair a slight wave that shortened the length to her chin, and then caught a cab to pick up Zoë at 6. When they arrived, Octavian and his group were waiting close to the entrance. "There they are," he said with an amiable grin. Even so, Thalia and Zoë still read his impression as arrogant.

"Not late, I hope," Zoë responded, to which Octavian shook his head. "Ladies, meet Silena, Pollux, and Castor." As he spoke, he indicated a slim woman with black hair and hazel eyes and then two identical men with curly blonde hair and violet eyes. They must have been twins. Thalia wondered if they were wearing contacts or if their eyes truly were such a strange hue.

"Nice to meet you guys. Your work is stunning," Zoë said with a grin. Thalia glanced at her and knew that her expression was only exaggerated for Thalia's sake.

"Thank you," the man named Pollux said.

"Let me get you girls a drink while these guys find us a big enough table," Octavian offered, putting his arms around Thalia and Zoe, leading them to the main bar at the center of the building.

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**


	14. Chapter 14 - Knife to Meet You, Octavian

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Sorry for upload delay! I had most of the chapter written by Thanksgiving, but then I just got so busy I couldn't finish it until now! Lots more action in this chapter. Enjoy!**

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Despite their general distaste of Octavian's character, both Thalia and Zoë had relaxed enough to have a good time. Of course, the alcohol probably had something to do with that as well. After a while, Zoë left the table to dance with the twins, and Silena was attracting attention from quite a few gentlemen who had had too much to drink. Thalia had been left on "Octavian duty", it seemed.

"How about I get you another drink?" Octavian offered Thalia with a smile, noticing that she looked distracted. There was a detectable slur in his voice, as if this next drink should very well be his last for the day. Thalia decided to humor him (mostly to keep an eye on him), and accompanied him to the bar, and he ordered their drinks.

Thalia took a polite first sip, but she consciously drank very little after that. Octavian finished a third of his drink within moments. "You know, your eyes look really blue up close," he noted slowly. She raised an eyebrow. Octavian nodded, as if she had verbally asked for confirmation. "Like sapphires," he slurred. He put his free hand on her arm and gripped it tightly, too tightly. Thalia pulled her arm away reflectively, but Octavian was deceivingly strong when he was drunk.

"Let go, Octavian," Thalia said in a low whisper, obviously attempting to avoid a scene.

"You're cute when you're upset. I like that," he said in response, ignoring her request.

"Let go. Now."

To her absolute horror, the man leaned in even closer and attempted to caress her hair. Thalia reacted instinctively, backhanding him across his cheek. He retaliated by holding her tighter as he rocked back slightly in his seat, forcing her to lean forward with him. Frantically, she attempted to shake his hand off of her, and another figure intervened. _Oh God_ , she thought, _I've started a bar fight._

Thalia heard skin collide with skin, a random shout or two, and the skidding of glassware, but everything happened too quickly for her eyes to see in real time. Everything she saw was just a blur of colors that were too bright. Suddenly her arm was free and she jumped out of her seat.

"Come on, come with me." The voice sent a chill down Thalia's spine.

"Luke? What are you even doing here?" Thalia was dumbfounded when she realized that it was Luke who had intervened, and who was currently leading her out of the building via a side door. "Where's Zoë?

"I'm here. God, Thalia, I can't believe Octavian did that! He's really got some issues," Zoë said, fussing over the red marks on her friend's arm. She must have caught up with them at the door. Thalia was still too shocked by the events to process everything.

Their path dropped them off in a very short alley between two buildings. There was a small square of concrete, blocked on two sides by a worn metal railing. The opening that faced the front of the buildings gave way to three stout steps, and the trio took off for the exit.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, blondie? You got some nerve!" How he'd even made it to the door in one piece, Thalia would never know, but there was Octavian, standing (barely) against the railing. One of his eyes was bright red and beginning to bruise.

Thalia felt Luke's body grow tense beside her even though they weren't even touching. His anger gave the impression of emanating from his body like bass speakers vibrating from amplified sound waves.

"Stay here," he muttered in a low voice. He stomped his way back to the stairs, and Octavian met him with a devilish grin.

"Come to finish what you started?" he taunted to Luke. His fist was clenched, and Thalia felt uneasy about the pose, but couldn't explain why.

"Look man, I'm not searching for a fight. This is a _warning_. If I ever find you drunk out of your wits and harassing a girl who is clearly _not_ enjoying your company, I will make you very, _very_ sorry. I will make it hurt. And I will make sure that you don't do it a third time. Is that clear?" Luke's words were spoken calmly, but the ice in his tone was dangerous. Thalia hadn't even known that such a sweet guy was capable of sounding so infuriated.

Octavian just grinned stupidly at Luke. "Yeah, sure man. Whatever." Suddenly the smile disappeared and in a blur of limbs, the guys were at each other's throats; Octavian angered and drunkenly aggressive, Luke defensive and simply pissed. Their scuffle didn't last long. Silena and the twins appeared, their faces pale and appalled at what they were witnessing. They began trying to pull Octavian off of Luke as Thalia and Zoë just stood in the alley in pure, embarrassing shock.

Silena gasped and something silver caught the sunlight that flooded into the alley. Luke shouted and recoiled from the group, and suddenly the puzzle pieces clicked into place. The guys were finally disentangled, and Luke's face was visible.

Octavian's clenched fist. The taunting.

A flash of silver. Luke's recoil. His shout.

Red. A line of red from above Luke's eyebrow, reaching to his chin.

"Luke? Luke!" Thalia sprang to action, running into the melee. She wrenched him away from the group. Everybody was suddenly very quiet. Silena's apologies were the only words that anybody heard spoken for the longest ten seconds of any of their lives. Thalia and Luke backed away quickly and joined Zoë, who had already grabbed tissues from her purse to clean the blood away with until better circumstances could be made.

"My car is on the curb," Luke said. His voice was flat, emotionless. He must have been in shock as well. Zoë seemed to be the only emotionally stable person, so she drove his car to Thalia's apartment, and they quickly filed in so that Luke's wound could properly be cleaned and bandaged. As far as Thalia could tell, the blade had missed his eye, so the cut had to be shallow. That was a relief, because Thalia wasn't sure that she would have been in favor of taking him to the hospital and explaining that her boss was to blame for Luke's injury.

"Sit," Zoë instructed Luke, indicating the sofa. Thalia was in the kitchen retrieving her first aid kit, and Zoë joined her and wet a wash cloth with warm water. She returned to the couch and wiped away the drying blood.

"I don't know how it happened. It was stupid. I shouldn't have done that," Luke was muttering when Thalia entered the room.

"Yes, that was stupid of you Luke. What on Earth were you thinking?" she scolded, sitting on his other side and opening the kit. She removed a bottle of alcohol for disinfecting the cut.

"That if I was lucky enough, I'd be fussed over by two pretty ladies?" Luke guessed teasingly.

Zoë smacked him playfully with the cloth and Thalia just made a _hmph_ sound. Luke chuckled in response.

"Now hold still. This will probably hurt," Thalia instructed as she raised a cotton pad soaked with alcohol to his forehead. Luke inhaled sharply and his body tensed, but he remained still as she directed. Thalia cleaned the wound carefully and slowly, not wanting any of it to be infected. She then applied an ointment that would help heal the wound quicker. When she was done, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What were you _really_ thinking, Luke? Why were you at the bar?"

"Truthfully?"

"That would be nice."

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**

 **A/N 2: Aaaaaannnnndddd now we find out where Luke's scar comes from, at least in my fic haha. I told y'all to watch out for Octavian.**


	15. Chapter 15 - If You Love Something

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Long chapter filled with more Thaluke fluff! I am SO sorry I didn't upload this on Friday-finals (ugh) and Christmas decorating (ugh) with the family kept me super busy! :{**

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"Well, you told me when you called last night that you would be there with some coworkers. I had hoped to surprise you there. I was actually coming into town and had planned on telling you, but I thought it would be better as a secret. As soon as I got off the plane, I drove to the bar," Luke said with a cheesy grin.

Zoë gave a hardly perceptible snicker and a pointed look at Thalia. Thalia knew the gaze well enough that she needed no words to express the mocking sparkle in her eye. _I told you so. I told you to call him._ Zoë got up and took the first aid kit back to the kitchen.

"Seems as if that secret got a bit out of hand," Luke said with an apologetic smile.

Thalia looked away from Zoë and turned her eyes to Luke. He was looking at her, measuring her response.

"You're really stupid, did you know that?" Thalia said with a sigh, shaking her head with a slight laugh.

Luke shrugged with a grin. "I've heard that before." He smiled at her.

Thalia wasn't sure who reacted first, but moments later their lips met softly. His touch both electrified and warmed Thalia's heart. It was sweet and forgiving. Their kiss was short, but they both knew it was more than just the kiss somehow. It was a fresh start.

"What do you say we give ourselves another shot here in New York?" Luke said softly.

Thalia tensed, and then she remembered both Piper and Zoë's advice. If she let him go again, she might not forgive herself down the road.

"Does this mean we're a thing now?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"If that's what you'd like."

"Okay," she said, biting her lower lip with a shy smile. Luke leaned in again and pressed his lips against hers. They broke away from each other like skittering colts when Zoë cleared her throat.

"Don't mind me. I was just on my way out. Those drinks are getting to my head. I'll take a cab home," Zoë told them with a smirk on her face and a sly tone. She picked up her purse, winked in Thalia's direction, and made herself scarce, closing the door loudly behind her.

Thalia laughed. "Sorry about her," she said. She reached for the television remote that sat on the coffee table in front of them, desperate for a distraction from the obvious rose shade of her usually pale cheeks. "Care to see what's on TV tonight? I can't possibly let you go home yet because you might cut your finger off or something," she teased.

Luke chuckled. "Alright, point taken. Turn the TV on, Thalia Grace." He stretched his arms back and rested them on the back of the couch.

Thalia did just that and flipped channels before she found an old movie playing that had just started. Instinctively, she pulled her knees up, tucking her legs beneath her body, and leaned against Luke. She smiled to herself when he very gingerly lowered his arm to rest on her shoulder. _Thanks, Zoë_ , she thought to herself.

-x-

Thalia felt her body moving without her permission and groaned in protest, but was still too sleepy to do anything about it. Suddenly something had picked her up around her upper waist and her knees, and was cradling her body. She and the mysterious object began to move. That was when her eyes shot wide open when she realized that the object was Luke.

"I am _so_ sorry," she apologized groggily, the words escaping her lips as barely a murmur. "I did emnot/em mean to fall asleep." By now the film was over and a work-out paid programming slot had taken its place. The only other sound was Luke's quiet, tired laughter.

"Don't worry about it," was his response. "I nearly fell asleep a few times myself toward the end."

Thalia looked on as the two of them receded from the living room. Her eyebrows furrowed before she realized that he was taking her to her bedroom. As this thought entered her mind, her bedroom door squeaked wide open when Luke shouldered it lightly, and he laid her down on her mattress. Thalia was now awake enough to pull the covers over her body and look at Luke with alert recognition. There was something she was missing...

"It's late." Thalia's clock read _2:33am_.

"Yes, it's late. I figured you would be more comfortable here," Luke said gently. Bless his heart, he could see she was still half asleep.

"You never checked into a hotel," Thalia remembered slowly, groggily. _Oh!_

"Luke," she began, her words interrupted by a yawn, "you're welcome to stay here. I'm afraid it's not very comfortable, but you can sleep on the couch. There are extra blankets in the cupboard to the right of the stove," she said.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. No use trying to find a hotel room at this hour," Thalia said with a lazy wave of her hand.

"Okay, I'll take you up on that, Innkeeper Grace," Luke said, a light teasing in his otherwise grateful tone.

"Thalia nodded and yawned again.

"Good night, Thalia," Luke said, backing out of her room and beginning to shut the door.

"Good night, Luke," Thalia mumbled, her eyes sliding shut again.

-x-

Thalia yawned as she woke up. No alarm had woken her because today was Saturday, and yet she was up earlier than usual. She stretched and hopped out of bed before she realized why. She smelled something. Something burnt. Her first instinct was that she'd left the stove on overnight and now her apartment was burning down. But if that were the case, her smoke alarm surely would be going off. She reached for a robe from her closet before realizing she was still wearing last night's attire. Her eyes widened as she truly woke up and remembered how all of these pieces fit together. She swung her bedroom door wide and nearly sprinted to the kitchen, where she promptly slid to a stop.

"Morning," Luke said without looking up. "I ah, attempted pancakes. Your stovetop gets hot really quickly," he added as an explanation for the blackened flour patties stacked precariously on a plate. "I settled for toast instead." Beside the pancakes was a stack of toast, prepared per usual for any standard toaster.

"I-thank you," Thalia said groggily, the remark coming out with more of a questioning tone than gratitude.

"Least I could do since you kindly allowed me to stay the night here," Luke said with a smile. He put two slices of toast on a plate and slid them across the counter. "Butter or jam?"

"Jam. But I'll get it," Thalia offered, bypassing him on her way to the refrigerator. She removed a jar of grape jam from the door. She picked up her plate of toast and took both to the small dining table just beyond the kitchen entrance. Luke joined her with his own plate of toast (four slices to her two), and they began to eat in silence.

"Thalia, I-"

"So how's-"

They both laughed. "After you," Luke said.

"No, you spoke first," Thalia insisted.

"Ladies first. Always," Luke replied smoothly, with a wink. Thalia's cheeks betrayed her otherwise composed stature in that moment.

"Well, I just wanted to ask how your cut was," Thalia said. "It looks a lot better than it did last night."

"Thanks to you and your wonderful friend," Luke agreed. "The pain doesn't bother me too much anymore."

Thalia nodded. "Good. That's good." She fell into a thoughtful silence.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright. After everything that happened," Luke said.

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. He was just drunk," she said dismissively. Then she frowned.

"I know that look. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Thalia-"

"Thanks for breakfast," Thalia interjected quickly. She finished her second piece of toast before standing to put it all away. Luke was beside her in a heartbeat.

"Thalia?"

"What if he says something? At work? God, it's so embarrassing. What if he makes me the bad guy, or worse...you? Who knows what kinds of lies that man will say to save his skin," Thalia rambled.

"Thalia, quit worrying for a moment, would you? Although I'll admit it's pretty cute when you get those worry wrinkles," Luke interrupted, cracking a smile. Thalia whacked his arm playfully with the nearest dish towel.

"But this is serious. He'll probably say something just to make himself feel better. I doubt he's ever taken rejection very well." Thalia scoffed and Luke just chuckled.

"What you need is to get your mind off of him. How about we go see a movie?" he suggested.

"I'd like that." Thalia smiled.

 _[To be continued!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**


	16. Chapter 16 - If It Comes Back

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Merry Christmas or happy holidays or whatever you celebrate around this time! :P A few "flash-forward" bits here to skip some downtime! It's at least 6 months after the last chapter. Luke and Thalia are still together, and are secure enough in their jobs to have moved in together to Thalia's apartment, despite Luke being gone frequently for flights. He managed to get several trips that were close enough to New York, but occasionally he was gone for about a week for a longer shift. That's about all you need to know for now ;) And what's a good story without a Christmas chapter or two? It's a few hours late, but who cares? :P**

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"This is fun," Thalia said with a grin. She had just wrapped up work for the day and Luke had picked her up by surprise. Now, she and Luke had decided to take a walk down Central Park before grabbing dinner and taking it back to their apartment. She wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck, and zipped her jacket a little tighter. It was only one of the starting days of fall, but it was bound to be a cold one if today was to be anything warmer than a few weeks from now.

"Yeah," Luke said. He seemed preoccupied. Thalia stopped walking. "Something on your mind?" she asked him curiously.

"Hmm? Oh, I've just been thinking," Luke said with a shrug.

Thalia quirked an eyebrow and studied him. He chuckled when he noticed her scrutiny.

"It's nothing. Really."

"After six months, I think you know I know you better than that."

"I'm fine. We're fine."

Thalia didn't press him further. Instead, she led him to a bridge, stopping in the middle just to relax. Luke wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head-something he'd grown fond of doing ever since he realized that Thalia couldn't (or wouldn't, in some cases) do anything about it. Thalia smiled slightly, truly content for the first time in a long time, and turned her head so that she could kiss his cheek if she reached up onto her tiptoes. His flesh was cold from the wind, due to his stubborn refusal to wear a scarf or hat. She watched a few ducks make rounds around the water off to her left, and watched the amber and crimson leaves rustling. They remained still in tranquility until Luke's stomach grumbled for immediate attention.

Thalia smiled. "Let's go pick up some Chinese before we go home, hmm?" She suggested.

Luke chuckled with her, the opaque puffs of their breaths rising quickly. "I think you know that answer. Come on." He laced his fingers through hers and guided her back through the park to his car.

Forty minutes later, they were settled in front of the TV, eating from Chinese take-out boxes on the couch. The Christmas movies had already started on the Hallmark channel, and Thalia had insisted they watch one, to call out the predictable material and laugh at "convenient coincidences".

"Thals?" Luke said when the commercials came on halfway through the movie.

Thalia looked up at him curiously.

"I got a call this morning," he began, rubbing the back of his neck with a pained expression. "My flights are being transferred to the west coast. I already checked the schedule, and I won't be close to New York for a few months." He watched her as he spoke, his eyes wide and filled with emotions. All of these emotions mirrored regret, regret for something that he had no control over.

Thalia couldn't help it, her expression became crestfallen before she had the opportunity to think and to monitor her reaction. "Oh," was all she could squeak out.

"I have to leave in a week," Luke continued. She could see plainly that it nearly physically pained him to even have to say that. Things had been so good for them, they'd had so much luck. She should have known that their luck was bound to run out. Calm before the storm, she thought. That's what they had been taking advantage of for the last few months.

"Okay, well...we just have to make this last week count," Thalia said, kissing his cheek affectionately.

"I'll miss the holidays," Luke said, his eyebrow raising as if to ask how they could make it count when that was such an obstacle.

"We'll work things out. Thank goodness for cell phones and Skype, right?" Thalia smiled softly, her eyes bright.

"His eyebrow quirked again, this time with a half-smirk. Thalia elbowed him playfully. "Not like that!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Jerk."

"Luke chuckled. He pulled her tightly against him, their movie long forgotten now. He began to tickle Thalia while she squirmed helplessly and giggled uncontrollably. She turned so that she was facing him and tried to bat his arms away and to pin them against the couch.

Luke went slack purposefully, and she fell against him with a surprised yelp. She smirked and drew her face close to his, watching him with bright eyes. Thalia leaned in to kiss him, their lips just barely brushing. Now in control of his arms again, Luke pressed one of his palms against the back of her neck and kissed Thalia with more pressure in reply.

Thalia felt chills rise over her skin when he kissed her, and when he gently wrapped his other arm around her slim waist. She coiled her fingers into his hair, grateful that Zoë had let her take the day off earlier than usual. When they parted, Thalia smiled at him and he gave her a goofy grin in response. For the rest of the evening as they watched another few movies, Thalia lay across his lap with one arm around his shoulder, playing with his hair. Luke had his arms wrapped loosely around her waist still, unconsciously brushing circles against her hip.

-x-

"I'll miss you," Thalia said with a pout that was only half ingenuine.

Luke took a luggage carrier on wheels with him, but it was packed lightly. He didn't bother bringing too much, most things he needed were paid for by Olympic Airlines.

"I'll miss you more," he teased with a grin.

Zoë groaned audibly. She smirked at the two and pretended to check her watch. "I'm not getting paid to drop you off, and I'm sure you don't want to miss your flight and not get paid for a few months," she joked.

Thalia smiled. "Text me when you land," she said. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips before she backed away to where Zoë stood and they waved him farewell.

"I'm starving. Should we go get lunch?" Zoë said when Luke had disappeared into the throng of early arrivals.

"Sure. I'm in the mood for a burger," Thalia said. She followed her out to the car that Zoë had recently purchased.

Three hours later, at work, Thalia's phone buzzed. It was from Luke, sending her a picture of the view of mountains from his hotel room in Utah. She smiled and typed out a short reply before she got back to her work. The days were sure to seem long from today until he returned, but she told herself that they would manage.

As it turned out, with the holidays rapidly approaching, Thalia was busier than ever. She visited with Piper at least once a day, saw her father once a week (if he was home), and went eye-shopping with Zoë after work every day to find the perfect holiday gifts. And it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet. Octavian wasn't around much anymore, which was an early Christmas miracle of itself, and the other higher level designers were especially chummy and approving of ideas by both Zoë and Thalia.

When Thanksgiving did arrive, Thalia and Piper met at Zoë's home for dinner. Piper was going to bring Jason with her, but he was still stuck with training for entering the military. Piper seemed unusually distraught about this, but Thalia didn't want to press the poor girl. It was small, but the three of them had more than enough food to go around, and Thalia took home more leftover containers than she could stack in both arms. Thankfully, her father was in New York for Thanksgiving, so they had a nice meal (using the leftovers) with just the two of them.

When Christmas rolled around, it smacked Thalia in the face like a bowling ball struck at the pins. December 23rd glared her on every calendar screen. She and Luke had been able to talk the previous weekend, but it still sounded like he was going to be stuck in Seattle on Christmas. He did hint at a gift that was on its way, but despite her pleas, he wouldn't say anything else on the matter.

""Thals, you coming?" Zoë hovered by her office door with a grin. They had just a few more presents to wrap that they'd do together, and then Thalia had Christmas Eve to wind down before the big day. She shut off her computer and locked up the office before walking out with Zoë, nearly skipping out the doors.

-x-

p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"One more day was crossed off the calendar. It was Christmas Eve. Thalia and Zoë were at Zoë's home drinking hot cocoa and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The day had gone by slowly, which was a relief to Thalia. One more stress-induced winter day and Thalia would surely have unraveled at the seams. Well, who was to say she hadn't already?

Thalia's phone chimed halfway through the film. It was Piper. "Strange," she muttered. Piper never called her if she could help it. She usually just texted her these days since Thalia typically had her phone around her. "Hey, what's up?" she said into the receiver.

"Thals, it's not good. It's Jason. I'm at your apartment. How quickly can you get here?" Piper sounded panicked, and that put a hard lump in Thalia's throat. She just stared at Zoë while her brain jumped to the worst conclusions imaginable.

"Give me five minutes." Thalia clicked the call off and sprang off the couch, her cocoa forgotten. She spluttered a few words of explanation to Zoë that she hoped made sense. Apparently they did, because Zoë was beside her in a matter of seconds, and then they were on the road.

Four minutes later, Thalia was ascending the steps to her apartment, the world around her a blur except the path directly in front of her. She reached the apartment and flung the door open, silently mouthing her brother's name on her lips in preparation of freaking out. But it wasn't her brother who stood in the doorway.

 _[To be continued...? Well...I think that time has come for me to announce that the next chapter is probably my last! I've enjoyed writing this story and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! I would love to hear ideas for other stories you may like to see (especially Thaluke because they deserve the love!), so please review with these suggestions or message me privately! Thanks guys!]_

 **Please follow and review! This is my first published fic, so I'd love some feedback! Critiques are welcome, rudeness is not.**


	17. Chapter 17 - Words to the Wise

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick and I do not own the rights to these characters. I just ship them immensely.**

 **A/N: Here it is! Get some tissues! The final chapter of Flights of Fate! HUGE shout out to everyone who has read and supported this story! It meant a lot and kept me going with it! This chapter title, for those of you who were curious, relates to the two quotes the chapter begins with, by an Ancient Greek philosopher and playwright respectively, and their take on fate. I thought it was a fitting touch :)**

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 _"Everywhere man blames nature and fate, yet his fate is mostly but the echo of his character and passions, his mistakes and weaknesses." - Democritus_

 _"I have found power in the mysteries of thought, exaltation in the changing of the Muses ... I have been versed in the reasonings of men but Fate is stronger than anything I have known." - Euripides_

-x-

"You're...not Jason," Thalia stated dumbly. She was received with a warm chuckle, the very one she had come to love so much. "What's going on?" If she hadn't been so shocked, she would have ran right up to him and kissed him.

He walked toward her with a stupid grin on his adorable, scarred face, hands folded into the pockets of his hoodie. He walked forward slowly, although some part of her could see the energy which he was patiently restraining.

"No, I'm not Jason. Sorry, that was a bit of a cruel joke. It was their idea, though," came that very same voice that both electrified and calmed Thalia at the very same time.

She didn't take her eyes off of the man in front of her, but from her peripheral vision she saw three shapes in the kitchen of her apartment. Piper, Jason (a very _healthy_ looking Jason, at that), and Zoë.

"I don't understand," she stammered. She looked into his bright blue eyes. Her own were probably dark with confusion, but his...well, they were excited, almost.

"It's a bit complicated, but I'll see if I can explain things in simple terms."

He stopped just in front of her, an intimate distance between them. She thought he would kiss her, and she definitely would not have stopped him. But he moved in a different direction then. Down, not forward. A single leg touched the ground from the knee down. The other was bent in the air at the knee, with only the foot on solid ground. Thalia's throat tightened into a giant knot and her stomach flipped as the butterflies swarmed every nook and cranny to be found.

"Luke?" her voice was barely a hoarse whisper, her eyes as large as moons.

"Thalia Grace. I have never believed in fate in my whole life. And then you walked onto that airplane, and I knew it was fate, putting us side by side. And if you'll let it..." he paused, and removed his hands from his pocket. There was a box. A black, velvety box. Just the right size for a... _Oh, God._ She was going to be sick.

"...I would like to see if fate will keep us side by side for a long time from this day forward." Luke finished speaking and revealed the contents of the box. A silver ring with a large diamond in the middle. There were two slim bands, which created an intricate infinity symbol from the diamond to the bottom of the ring, where the two bands met as one. Smaller diamonds encrusted the larger one. Subconsciously, Thalia counted them. The number of diamonds matched the exact number of months since they had met.

"Thalia Grace, will you marry me?" That was it. There were no more elegant words. It was simple, but it was perfect. Thalia never cried, but she came very close at this moment. The room was silent, it seemed as if everyone was holding their breaths. She nodded her head once, slowly, one hand over her mouth, before she nodded more confidently.

"Yes," she exhaled. "Yes, I'll marry you, Luke." The last part was chocked out as Thalia furiously tried not to cry. You know, for her makeup's sake.

Cheers erupted from their small audience, and Luke rose to his feet again to don the engagement ring on Thalia's left hand. When that was completed (after a moment or two of shaking hands and fumbling), they reached for each other's embrace. Thalia wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and Luke took her, almost roughly, by the waist. Their lips came together, and Thalia felt truly exuberant. When they finally parted (to a short chorus of clearing throats), they merely took another moment to really look into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Thalia Grace," Luke said softly.

"I love you, Luke Castellan," Thalia replied in a happy whisper.

"Well, who wants to go out and celebrate?" Piper suggested. Of the trio, she was the most excited. She must have been the one who planned this, with Luke's collaboration.

"That sounds like a great idea," Luke said with a smile. Thalia nodded. He wrapped his arm around her waist. She looked up at him with a smile.

"How did you do it? I thought you were stuck in Seattle with work for Christmas?"

"I was. Until I stopped working there."

"What do you mean?"

"I quit my job at the airline," Luke said. Thalia tensed, but he reassured her. "It was all on good terms. It was only that I realized, shortly after I left, that I had bigger priorities." He gave her a look, indicating the ring, and he gave her a sideways smile.

"And my brother?"

"He's fine," Piper chirped, coming up to them. "Congratulations," she said with a wink.

"But...you've been worried about him. I thought something was wrong," Thalia said, stumped.

"Oh, she was just concerned for me. It's not as big as an engagement, but I have good news," Jason said, coming up beside Piper.

"Tell them," she urged.

Jason grinned. "You're looking at a US Military Cadet as of this week."

"I was just worried about him getting in. I knew it was something that he really wanted to do. I couldn't be prouder," Piper boasted, ruffling his hair. It made sense now. Of course Piper would be concerned. She and Thalia both knew how happy Jason was to be following his dreams of being in the military and to put his skills to good use. And now that he could, it must be a relief to both of them, while still obviously making Piper anxious in case he was needed for deployment.

"Congratulations," Luke and Thalia said at the same time. Everyone laughed.

"Alright, congrats all around. Now who's hungry?" Zoë piped up, jangling her keys.

 _[The End]_

 **A/N 2: Well I hope you guys liked it! I know I enjoyed writing it and reading the lovely reviews. If you are a guest, please make an account and follow/favorite me so that you can be notified when I have a new story out and I can give you proper credit for the idea if it gets picked, and I'd also love to hear more suggestions! I'm still considering ideas for my next story! I think it's time FF got some more Thaluke love!**

 **Side note, would anybody be interested in a Thaluke x Doctor Who crossover? It was one of those random "shower thoughts" the other day, but it did sound pretty convincing when I thought it through! I won't give too much info, but would there be any potential takers/readers? Let me know in the reviews or by messaging me! ;) Or any other crossovers for that matter; if I'm familiar with the other half, I'm open to ideas!**


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